Quest for a Nation
by coffeetablewriter
Summary: Sequel to Quest for a Holiday. Carolyn Mason is former FOC, freaked-out-civilian, and trying to pick up the pieces after her vacation. However, after a daring rescue by Ethan Hunt and his team, she is sent in for questioning about Hunt's last whereabouts by CIA's Agent Hunley, and what she get's is a lot more than she bargains for. Brandt/OFC. [Set during Rogue Nation]
1. Prologue

**A/n: Thank you so much for reading Quest for a Holiday! I really appreciate it! :) Here's the sequel. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. I just own my OC. MI belongs to its respective owners. Merely writing for fun, not for profit.**

 **Prologue  
Vienna, Austria**

If it hadn't been for her amazing manager, roommate, now friend, Gina Carr, Carolyn Mason would've never been able to afford her way to Vienna, Austria, a place she'd only dreamt about since she learned she could travel to places like London, Paris, and Vienna! She wanted to learn how to ski on the snowy mountain Alps, but she'd been given limited amount of time. She was only supposed to go for a weekend, and that was fine for Carolyn because her last trip was way too long, and way too stressful. At least in Vienna she could just leisurely enjoy the sites like she was supposed to in Moscow.

"You only turn thirty once, my friend, enjoy it."

"You're not coming with me?" Carolyn asked with a small frown, as she looked at the all-expense paid trip to Europe, anywhere she wanted, and she had her heart set in Vienna. The Sound of Music was a favorite movie of hers as a kid, growing up, she'd watch that over and over just to escape her ballet and gymnastic competitions. She would watch it, curled up with a hot steaming cup of cocoa and pretend like she was there with Julie Andrews. She'd never told anyone this of course; because it was a secret she'd like to keep to herself.

"I could only afford one ticket," Gina had said with a small cringe. "And I know you like the cultural experience, and you like to travel, and girl, will you just go? Enjoy yourself for once? I mean I know you can read books beyond books about history, but why read when you can go live it!"

"You do too,"

Gina giggled warmly. "I like the European men if _that's_ what you're referring to. I hope to marry rich one day and go live in a villa somewhere."

Carolyn wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"What?" Gina frowned.

"Sorry, I just…I've had really bad luck with rich men lately and yeah…not my favorite kind of people. No offense,"

"Oh, well don't let one guy spoil your search for romance darling," Gina said. "I knew that man was something special when I saw you two kissing down by the pier."

Carolyn chewed her bottom lip and blushed. "Yeah…he is something." Gina didn't know what Brandt did for a living, but Carolyn wasn't about to spill the beans, even if they were friends. There were some things Carolyn liked to keep private to herself. And this was a secret that she would carry with her throughout the rest of her life.

"So then take this trip, my birthday gift to you, all expenses paid for, anywhere you want to go, it's on me. You're a hard-worker Carolyn, and when you told me that your first vacation got ruined because you'd fallen off a flight of stairs and landed in a hospital….well that just sucks in my opinion. So, will you _please_ go?"

Carolyn sighed. "Alright," she said finally. Gina probably wouldn't have taken no for an answer because that was the kind of girl she was.

As Carolyn sat at a small café table within the busy streets of Vienna, she remembered her birthday night, as if it was yesterday. It was a very lonely birthday of sitting at home, eating ice cream and watching the Sound of Music for the umpteenth time.

Gina had a point. Her life was sad.

And Gina was honestly her rock since she's tried to recover from her international adventure with Ethan and his team. It was still fresh in her memory that she'd tried to forget, but she couldn't. She couldn't shake those events away no matter how much she wanted to, no matter how much she tried to, she'd always remember their adventure. Her fears and doubts would linger in her soul. Her feelings for Brandt would be up and down like a rollercoaster because she'd always remember his kiss. It wasn't something you could just forget. She still had nightmares about the Kremlin that still kept her awake and the fear of that guy still trying to get to her still threatened her from time to time, but not as much as Moscow.

She sighed, placing her chin on top of the palm of her hand. Well, today she was going to enjoy the Alps. She just had enough time for a bite of her blueberry scone and a sip of her cappuccino before she would have to make a mad dash back to the train.

She glanced at the time on her phone, and quickly stood up from her seat, accidentally hitting her knee against the table, which then caused her purse and phone to fall off onto the cobblestone streets. "Great," she muttered to herself, and looked at the spot of coffee that spilled on the saucer and onto her half finished scone.

"Here, let me help," a gentleman said coming to the rescue. She was trying to scramble for her stuff, like room key, and her Alps tourism ticket that he'd grabbed in his hands.

Carolyn watched in amazement as he scooped everything up and put it all back into her purse. He held her phone and her purse back to her. "Thank you," she said, standing back up. She took out some European bills and handed it on the table. She knew that the tip was already added onto the bill, but it was just a habit she'd developed. Every little bit helps.

"You're welcome," he said. "I couldn't help but notice you're going to the Alps this afternoon?"

Carolyn looked up at him into his dark brown eyes. She smiled. "You're Russian," she said.

"Yup," he smiled guiltily. "I have a home here in Vienna. It's my father's, actually. I visit here often for work, the food, and the ladies," he drawled, winking at her. Carolyn couldn't help, but laugh at his charm. "How do you like Vienna?"

"It's peaceful," Carolyn said. "I really like the people here, and the food of course is amazing."

"I'm Dimitri," Dimitri said, offering his hand.

Carolyn looked at it and then looked at him again. "What do you do for a living Dimitri?" she asked.

"I'm a pilot. My father wanted me in the winery business like he was but…I'm more of a see the world kind of guy, you know?"

Carolyn nodded. "I do know," she said. "I'm Carolyn."

"And what do you do?" he asked.

"I'm a waitress," Carolyn said. "But I'm going to apply for college when I get back, so technically waitress-slash student."

Dimitri chuckled at her. "What do you want to study?"

"World History," Carolyn said, smiling.

"Ah," Dimitri bowed lightly, hand on his stomach, and a hand against his back. "I know much about the world that pens couldn't even put to paper."

"I bet," Carolyn said. "Unfortunately, I'm off to the Alps. And my ticket here says it closes at three in the afternoon, and it's about two. So I need to get going. It was nice meeting you Dimitri."

"I could give you a lift," Dimitri offered. "It'd be a lot easier than trying to make it through the weave of people on the train."

Carolyn chewed her bottom lip, and wrinkled her nose. She looked up passed the city of Vienna and over at the distance where clouds covered the mountains. It was a cloudy day today, but it was nice and warm out, perfect for short sleeves, and skinny jeans with boots that Carolyn had on. She strung her purse over and saw the crowd bustling in the street.

He seemed nice enough, Carolyn thought, glancing at him. He wore khaki slacks, and a white t-shirt. He had a red beret on top of his brown hair. Carolyn would have to admit that he was cute, and Gina did want her to have fun. She didn't have anyone else back at home, and she didn't really want to let Gina down. Plus it'd be kind of fun to get to know someone else like Dimitri, especially if he knew Vienna like he said he did, which was why she came here, to get to know Vienna.

"Tell you what," Carolyn said. "I'll go with you, on one condition."

"I'm listening," he said.

"I'll go with you if you tell me all about Vienna," she said. "And how you came to be in Vienna since you're, well, from Russia."

Dimitri chuckled. "Typical," he smiled, but then bowed, and offered her his hand. "Your wish is my command."

Carolyn smiled, and took it, hooking his arm with hers, they headed toward the Alps.

~*MI*~

The minute they got there, the ride to the tippy-top of the Alps was closed down due the sudden downpour that Carolyn and Dimitri found themselves in.

"Well, this sucks," Carolyn muttered, holding her pea-coat over her head, as Dimitri tried to cover her body from the rain. "It was nice a minute ago," she said with a frown.

"I'm sure it'll be open tomorrow," Dimitri said. "The weather here is ever changing, but the nice thing is, is that everything is sunshine and daylight in the morning. So we can go then. Is your hotel far?" he asked her over the pouring rain.

"It's uptown Vienna," Carolyn said.

"My villa is closer," Dimitri said. "We'll go there." They headed back to his car, and ducked inside.

"My stuff is in that hotel," she frowned.

"My sister has clothes you can borrow, and a shower that's probably ten times better than that crummy hotel your in," Dimitri said, glancing at her.

She was shivering like a leaf, hugging herself for warmth. He turned the heat on in the car, and started the engine.

"You said you wanted to see Vienna," he said. "Vienna is my home. I've lived here for most of my life. I was born in Russia, and we escaped. Now we reside here in the peaceful countryside. I intend to show people the world on what it's really like. It's not all dark and scary as most people see it as on T.V."

Carolyn bit her bottom lip. Not in her experience, she thought, but liked the way that he talked with his cute Russian accent. She smiled. "Is that why you became a pilot?" she asked.

"More or less," he said. "Come on, let's get you warm before you freeze to death. Did I mention I have a fireplace?"

Carolyn shook her head, smiling.

"And hot cocoa." Dimitri said, starting the engine, making Carolyn giggle.

"You really know how to spoil a girl, you just met off the streets," Carolyn said, darting her eyes at him, as if she was eyeing him cautiously.

Dimitri didn't miss her fleeting look of cautiousness in those hazel eyes of hers, but she was driving him wild. He'd never met anyone like her before and he was just sad for what he was about to do to her. He had to be careful. She was more perceptive than he thought.

"A woman with an interest in culture is kind of a turn on," Dimitri said, making her blush. He smiled, and they headed off to his home in the countryside.

Carolyn sighed.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"I just got over a break-up," she said quietly.

"Oh," Dimitri cleared his throat, as they drove into traffic. "I'm sorry to hear that. You know what they say?"

"What?" she asked.

"Quickest way to get over somebody is to get right back on the bandwagon, right? That's what you Americans say?"

Carolyn let out a laugh. "You're cute, Dimitri."

"I know. It's my curse,"

"Or maybe you're charm," she said, smiling at him. He smiled too and just pressed his gas pedal forward, hopping onto the highway so they could drive along the countryside. He was determined to show her just how charming he could be.

~*MI*~

By the time they reached the countryside, and inside Dimitri's large villa, which was like a mansion, or a castle in Carolyn's eyes, warm lights flooded around them. She looked up at the high ceilings, and glanced all around her. Wow… she thought. Expensive tastes, for sure.

"Your father sells wine?" Carolyn asked with a bit of uncertainty in her voice.

Dimitri glanced at her and didn't let go of her hand. He pulled her along the winding mahogany wood-covered staircase.

"We have a vineyard in Vienna, and sell to and from Moscow," Dimitri said. "My father always wanted to connect the peace between countries," he said. "And he wanted me in the family business but…I was more of a daredevil than anything else growing up."

Carolyn smiled. He sure knew how to take her mind off of the cold that seeped through her. He just had that touch of kindness.

They walked toward the hallway and into his bedroom. He flicked the lights on, and her eyes roamed around the large space. Large furniture adorned every corner of the room. His king-sized, canopy bed had brown and gold comforter to match his old-wood and antique dresser, inn-tables, and closet rested in the corner.

She ran her hand along her arm. Dimitri walked into his bathroom, also huge that seemed to glow white and pearl sheen along the countertops and floors. He grabbed a towel from the drawer and walked back over to her, wrapping it around her. He pulled her closer toward him so that he could warm her up.

"You have a fireplace in your room?" she asked, quite astonished, as she looked at the fireplace that rested along the wall n between the bathroom and the dresser.

He grinned at her, and let her hold the towel around her shoulders. He turned it on with the remote. Heat flooded throughout the room. She listened to the rain pitter patter against the rooftop.

It was all too much, but Dimitri was different. He wasn't like that rich guy who tried to hurt her, or…Nath. He was different. She couldn't place what it was because she was distracted by his smile.

"Any chance that I can um, change, and dry these wet clothes off of me?" she asked, cheeks burning hot with embarrassment.

Dimitri chuckled, and nodded, "My sister has a closet just down the hall, about your size. I'm sure she wouldn't mind you borrow something from her." Carolyn eyed him up and down, and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. "Okay," she said. "To the left."

"Right," she smiled. "Thanks. I mean it's just my luck it'd rain on us," she said. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

"Anytime," Dimitri said.

She was about to walk out of the room until he pulled her arm into a warm embrace and kissed her deeply, holding onto her arms. She let out an involuntary groan, and sighed within the kiss that pushed deeper into her soul, making her dizzy with the taste of sweet countryside wine. He smelled so good with his cologne that flared in her nostrils, another turn on of hers, that made her weak.

Her heart started to race against her chest at how much he kissed her with every fiber and being in his soul like he was enriched by her or something. He gently pushed her against his dresser, and brought his hand down her throat, brushing his gentle palms against her skin. She shivered at the foreign touch, _emphasis on foreign_. His fingers wiped the water droplets away and pushed her wet hair back, and held onto the side of her chin, keeping his lips pressed against hers, begging to enter inside her. She was holding back. She moved her head back away and his lips kissed the side of her chin in response. He sighed. "Him again?" he asked.

She looked up into his brown eyes, and brought her hand to her lips feeling the touch of him against hers that seemed to burn in a strange way. She couldn't describe it but she was getting mixed feelings about him and her together.

"No," she shook her head. "I'm just…I mean I've never really…done anything like this before."

"Oh," Dimitri said, and then let out a small hearty chuckle. She smiled slightly. "Well, you have nothing to worry about. It is your birthday right?"

She nodded. She'd told him that on the way here too. She was supposed to be celebrating her thirtieth, that wasn't going as well as she'd planned. She sighed. Will things ever go right for her? Perhaps Dimitri was her salvation. People meet each other for a reason in life, right? She'd always believed that, but she just wasn't sure.

She was scared.

"And you wouldn't let a little rain, closed day at the Alps for repairing the ride, and burnt coffee ruin your day would it? I can make it all disappear in just one night," he said, planting a light kiss on her lips.

She didn't kiss back this time. Her thoughts did drift back to Brandt, and she felt the ache in her heart again. Gina _did_ send her here so that she could try to get over the break-up even if it was her birthday. "Can you make pain go away too?" she asked in a small whisper.

"Even pain," he nodded. "I'm in the business of making pain go away, Carolyn. It's my specialty. I can be _very_ gentle," he said, turning her head toward her with his fingers on her chin. He made her stare into his eyes, and he stared back into hers. "Or…I can be rough. There is an animal inside me Carolyn, an animal that wants to light your sweet heart on fire, and tear your pain away…" he kissed her again, and this time she kissed him back, feeling hot again.

She opened her mouth and he darted his tongue in hers. She groaned at the forceful entry as he picked her up and turned her around facing her toward the bed. He walked them over and gently pushed her down, so that he was on top of her, entrapping her with his arms and legs.

His hand lingered down her skin to the end of her shirt, and pulled it over her head. He kissed down her neck, and worked on taking her jeans off, revealing all of her save for her lingerie.

Suddenly Carolyn began to feel self-conscious as she felt cool air lick her skin as his eyes danced hungrily on her body. Fear gripped her heart tightly, and she stopped his hand from going any further.

She was shaking like a leaf, and Dimitri glared into her eyes. "What?" he asked.

"Um," she closed her lips, breaking the kiss. She scooted back towards the headboard and leaned against the pillows. He crawled upwards toward her, trapping her again. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry. I want to, but I can't. I'm…not ready." She admitted shamefully.

Dimitri let out a shaky sigh. Damn. He was so close. Anger flared into his eyes and Carolyn looked at him with wide-eyes… but he lowered his head. "I'm sorry too," he said, that allowed Carolyn to relax.

"Thank you," she whispered, placing a kind hand on his fair and delicate cheek. "I'm sorry…I want to, it's just, I'm scared…intimacy with me…I…I just freak out."

Dimitri stabbed something sharp at her side, and Carolyn's eyes shook with fear and pain, and then a sudden numbness that consumed her body, as she felt the hazy drug loose in her system.

"So am I," he said in his Russian tongue. He watched her fall asleep. "Sleep tight," he said.

~*MI*~

 **Minsk, Bellarus**

Dimitri was pissed. He was close. So freaking close, and then it all went to hell. His dark eyes glared at the sleeping body of Carolyn Mason, the one girl she was supposed to track down, win her heart over, and then kill her. He hadn't intended to fall for her charming and delightful smile, but she had that way of making every dull reality shine.

But now he couldn't even have that moment of bliss, not even from her. Bitch. He thought angrily. She'll pay dearly. She'll pay hard.

He took her out of the truck that was loading a heavy package onto his A400, and held her over his shoulders. She was light as a feather, messy brown hair fell everywhere as she leaned over her shoulders like a rag doll.

"I thought you were going to screw her and then kill her," Dimitri's comrade asked, smoke circling his face as he watched Dimitri tie her against the nerve gas package inside his A400 plane, parked in the airstrip ready to take off. His comrade stomped on his cigarette in the grass.

"I was," Dimitri said bitterly, tying her wrist tightly against the cool metal pressed against her back. He dressed her in a black slip and black robe borrowed from his sister. "Gina failed to mention she was a virgin, _and_ had the guts to tell me to stop."

"You know most sane men just continue…." Misha said slowly.

Dimitri glared at him, and grabbed his collar. He shoved Misha back. "I'm not like most men, Misha, don't you forget that. That's inhumane to ruin such beauty like this one. That was last century, the stakes are higher now. Women must be taught a lesson. It'll be a message to those who are virgins that this is what happens when you don't freaking commit. Get the plane ready," Dimitri said as anger pulsed through his veins.

"Yes, sir," Misha said, and nodded. He disappeared to the cockpit.

Dimitri turned to his cell and texted a message to his sister.

' **PLAN B IS IN MOTION. YOU'RE TURN.'**

Dimitri smirked at his message and he hit send.

She opened her eyes, but felt a tight and biting yet soft pain swirled around her wrist. _Oh no…_ she thought dreadfully. Not again.

She turned her head to stare at her surroundings, as she attempted to blink into focus. A groan left her lips after feeling drowsy from the effects of the drug that had flooded her system, and was now lost.

"Oh, good, you're up," Dimitri said with a large smile across his face, and placed his cell phone in his back pocket. He walked over to her and tightened her wrist in which she winced at the small pain against her soft skin. "You're just in time to see the show."

Carolyn rolled her eyes around, taking in the gray outlook of her future. She turned her head to see that she was attached to gray warhead like metal boxes that had the danger seal slapped against them.

"What is this?" she asked groggily. She still felt the effects of the drug wear off her, because she was tired. She blinked a couple of times, more than a couple of times to focus. Everything hurt, physically and mentally.

She turned to look at him.

"This is my gift to the world, my message to _all_ virgin women," he said, tightening her right wrist.

She tried to struggle out of her restraints but it was no use. She was stuck, and she was probably going to die unless some miracle appeared at her door step like a fleet of Navy Seals rescuing her to stop this madness.

Dimitri stepped back for a brief moment as if he was admiring his handiwork. "Hmmm, something is missing…"

"You bastard," she hissed, pulling against the black straps that rested along the package behind her.

"More like a son-of-a-bitch," Dimitri shrugged. "But we'll go with that too. My father wasn't the best of men I'd ever gotten the pleasure of knowing."

"Are all you psycho's so twisted?" Carolyn snapped, glaring at him.

Dimitri chuckled. "I'm hurt, my love, twisted? You're the one that's twisted. I offer you escape, and you turn it down for a man who left you in the shadows of your heart, loosing yourself in the dark. I could have pulled you out into the light, and made you whole again, but you didn't want the light."

"You carry the soul of the devil himself," Carolyn spat.

Dimitri fought hard to raise his hand and not smack her across the face, but then he gripped tightly onto her chin, stepping closer. "We could've had the world," he whispered, forcing a kiss on top of her.

Her face pressed against the hard metal against her cheek. She let out a whimper unable to help bite back the pain that she felt within her. She attempted to knee him in the groin and he ended up stumbling back from her.

"Sir?" Misha asked curiously, looking down at Dimitri who panted at the pain Carolyn had endured within him.

He glared at Carolyn who had a bit of a proud smile on her face before he glanced back at Mischa, his co-pilot.

"What?" Dimitri snapped.

"We're just about ready for take off," Misha said.

"Everything secure?" Dimitri asked.

"Yes, sir, we're filling in the last gaps as we speak," Mischa nodded.

"Good. Finish it off, and let's go. We don't have much time." Dimitri said in a low voice. He turned to glare at Carolyn who now gulped. "You want to be an angel, and play God's given child to save the world? Go right ahead. You'll end up an angel…a fallen angel…and no one will hear you scream within that nerve gas. The world _will_ burn, and this is your first class ticket to enjoy the show," Dimitri said, and walked away from her, locking the side door tight, locking her into her world of darkness.


	2. Chapter 1: Makeup and Wine

**Disclaimer: I do not own MI: Rogue Nation, or any film for that matter. MI belongs to its respective owners. I just own my OC's. I am writing for fun and not for profit.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 1: Makeup and Wine**

 **Seattle, WA**

The two-bedroom apartment was quiet. The only thing that was heard was the sound of cars and trucks moving along the highway adjacent to the apartment building settlement in Seattle, WA. Night swept through the city quickly just as the twilight hours descended for the nighttime festivities to begin. Unfortunately for Miss Gina Carr, she had other plans with her record player and a bottle of red wine, Merlot, very dry on the tongue.

The street lights poked through her sheer curtains, as a cool autumn breeze fluttered through her bedroom, sending tingles of delight and comfort against her skin, and glinted across her mirror that was attached to the vanity table in which she sat, powdering a light complexion color on her nose.

The soulful jazz of Coltrane eased her soul throughout the night as she prepared her make-up. The make-up and perfume bottles were scattered across her glass surface of her vanity table, along with bolls of cotton, and tissues filled with different colors of eye shadow mixed in together.

She took the stem of the red wine glass, half full, and took another sip of blood red liquid that slithered down her insides to the very core of her soul, and put it down on her table. Give it time, and she'd probably be a little tipsy, since she was so light on her feet when it came to drinking, one of the things she had in common with her roommate.

Apart from her boring night at home, an unusual characteristic for Miss Gina Carr, but very, very necessary, she was in a good-hearted mood. Not cheery, but she was content. She should be cheery, after an amazing message she received, but apart of her was feeling very empty inside. She supposed she'd always feel this way, being the single gal she was. It wasn't fair. She was pushing thirty-five, and she was still single! At least she wasn't living with her mother anymore. That was the one thing she thought made worth living in this forsaken world. But right now, that didn't matter. What mattered ahead of her was her future that she was promised would come to light and be so bright that she would have all the feels, and that she would finally pan out on top. She was going to hold onto that promise, and she was going to please her boss in anyway shape or form that she could; she wouldn't let him down. This was _her_ chance to shine.

She put the powder-puff down into the tin can of pink and tan powder she mixed herself, and relaxed her shoulders. Satisfied with her finished look, she closed the tin can shut and scooped up all her make-up, putting it away in their respective spots. Then she wiped the glass surface clean, and tossed it into her trash bin that rested beside it.

She walked over toward her window and closed it shut with all of her might before she headed back to her queen-sized bed, covered with black and white pillows, and a black duvet to match her current mood. She needed to get out of it very fast. So, she decided she would get ready, and hope that getting ready would snap her out of her foul mood, and put her in a very good and happy mood.

There was a white trash bag filled with old and ratty clothes, some brand new, but mostly old and dull. On the bag, the word donation was written in a black Sharpie marker.

Gina pulled it open, and the clothes of Earth-tone colors piled out. She pulled out a few outfits that she thought would look good: black pants with a brown v-neck shirt, a yellow shirt, with brown pants, and a pair of jeans with a light blue shirt. She pulled out the white pea coat with big black buttons and set it next to the set of outfits she'd decided on. The velvet ankle boots were next, warn to death, but still in good condition for the most part, only a few threads threatened to unravel, but she easily tore them away. Good as new.

She walked over to her closet doors and opened them up revealing her own clothes that were much darker, mostly black with leather. Gina had a thing for leather, always had, but the days of leather for her were over. She pulled out a box from underneath her clothes, and lifted a strand of black and chocolate mix of curly hair behind her ear before she picked up the box, and carried it into her arms. She set it down next to the cream and white colored pea coat that was designer from Michael Korrs.

A smile appeared on her lips as she pulled out a few old items from the box that was also marked for donation, and set them aside before she finally found the luggage bag, and purse. She took both items out and put the rest of the clothes back in the box.

She packed the luggage, the purse with a few girly items and finally a passport. She changed out of her old clothes and picked the outfit with the light blue shirt, and jeans with the velvet boots. She packed the rest of the items along with underwear, bras, a toiletry bag of the necessary items that every woman needs on a beautiful trip to Europe, and zipped it shut. She walked over to her dresser, and pulled out a folded black sweatshirt, mostly warn for comfort because it was like an extra hug. Then she discarded her phone inside the pocket.

She took the box of old clothes and discarded items ready for donation with her into her arms, and headed out of the apartment and into the cool night air. The wind pushed her hair back, showing a small tattoo buried underneath her neckline of her shirt, and tossed the box into the trash can for Friday morning's trash pick up, and started back up the driveway until she felt something buzz in her pocket.

She pulled it out of her sweatshirt's pocket, a small phone from the nineties era, and smiled when she read it. The feels that went through her sparked like a blooming flower.

 _'Everything is in place. It's official, doll. Ready or not we take them down. Have fun.'_

The smile grew larger on her face if that were ever possible. She knew he would come through for her. She just knew it. She sent s text message back to him, and headed inside the apartment feeling even more alive that night.

In the beginning of her evening, she felt dead, deader than a doornail, but when she got the news that her roommate was dead, everything seemed like Christmas again.

She headed back over to her vanity table, and ran her pale fingers along the delicate locks of wavy brown hair that settled upon a mannequin head. It wrapped around the familiar face of someone who she studied for two months straight.

She took the mask off of the mannequin and put it on over her face, as she sat back down in her comfy seat she ordered off of the Pottery Barn site, and sighed heavenly, as she smoothed out the skin bubbles, making sure she got rid of each one to make her skin look smooth.

She took out another cell phone from her vanity drawer, a modern day phone that was thinner than a strand of thick hair, and opened up an app on her phone. She put the phone to her lips and pressed a recording button. Glancing in the mirror, she cleared her throat, and straightened her self up before she spoke,

"I'll be just fine, thank you," Gina said in her best voice of impressionism. She read the voice recorder. Only 70 percent. She took a deep breath and tried again. "I'll be just fine, thank you," she said, and looked at the voice meter. 80 %. "I'll be just _fine,_ thank you."

"Match: 98% compatible," the robotic female voice said.

Gina grinned, satisfied that she sounded perfect and typed something back to her brother on the other phone. ' _Everything is set here. Status?'_

' _We're in the air.' ~ Dimitri_

' _I should be in Europe by nightfall tomorrow. Good job, my dear brother.'_

Gina took another wipe from the box, wiped her prints off her nineties phone, and tossed it in the trash bin. She'd discard before she was ready to leave.

The feelings of being alive were coming back to her as everything was falling into place just like her boss said it would. All of her life, she'd wanted to be an actress, and no one took a chance on her. She'd starved herself, thirsted for more on the stage in hopes that she would find her Russian beauty to be perfect for the silver screen like many other actresses that have had their shot. She was talented, beautiful, and she spoke seven languages, for crying out loud!

Unfortunately for Gina, that day never came until she found him in the audience of one of her small places in the London Theatre district, the one man that she'd be loyal to forever…and gave her life to: Solomon Lane. And he'd given her the role of a lifetime, to play Carolyn Mason, freaked-out-civilian, and tear Ethan's team apart.

She smiled happily, looking at herself in her mirror. She looked to the right of her mirror, looking at the attached picture, and staring back at her was Carolyn Mason, and Gina Carr celebrating Carolyn's thirtieth birthday with margaritas that Gina forced her to try because they were insanely delicious and totally went to her head when she didn't want to feel empty anymore. But Gina was totally satisfied because she looked exactly like Carolyn's twin if Carolyn ever had one but Gina did a profile on her, a two-month profile on her, and no one showed up. Carolyn Mason was an only child. That's how it's supposed to be. After all that's how the IMF worked, and that's how the Syndicate was going to rip them all to shreds. Gina let out a sigh. "Agent William Brandt," she said in a sultry manner as she flipped through the pictures of her phone, as she'd taken a few pictures of him out in the open, and landed specifically on the shared kiss between him and Carolyn on Pier 47.

"Eat your heart out," she grinned. "And I do mean literally." Then she switched to the next picture of Ethan Hunt, aka her target and her mission.

Once Carolyn would be out of the picture as she is now thanks to her brother, Gina would be in like Flynn. Ethan Hunt wouldn't just stick around one place for very long. The Syndicate knew Ethan would be looking for the Syndicate. But the Syndicate would capture him, and Gina would swoop in and take her place when she'd received the signal from Viktor, act like the damsel in distress, gain his trust as Carolyn Mason, and work her magic on Ethan Hunt. She would try to stray him away from Lane and his whereabouts. Ethan would never find Lane. Gina would make sure of it.

She drowned the rest of her wine, and yawned contently before she walked over to her bedside table, and blew out the candle, letting darkness surround her.

 **~*O*~**


	3. Chapter 2: Minsk

**A/n: Thank you all for reading! You guys are amazing. Here's a new chapter!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible, or anything related to it. I just own my OC. Only writing for fun, and not for profit.**

 **Chapter 2: Minsk**

" _Benji…Benji do you copy?"_

Silence.

" _Benji…?_ "

The tall grassy plains appeared picturesque until all of a sudden, Benji popped up with his binoculars, state of the art technology from IMF. He was hidden behind some kind of bushy grass and brown weeds that made him look like he was apart of the setting.

He could have _sworn_ through his binoculars that he saw a body hanging off the shoulders of one of the burley Russian pilots, but he couldn't tell as he tried to focus the new technology. It was a tad bit hard to see, a little fuzzy due to the cloudy weather Minsk was currently undergoing.

"Ugh, shit," Benji cursed, nearly falling behind the tall grass. He got up again, and peered through the binoculars.

" _Where is Ethan?_ " Brandt asked over the ear-comm.

"Uh," Benji drawled, glancing across the airstrip field through his binoculars. "I can't talk right now," he whispered. The field agent technician watched with curiosity as he watched the men step onto the plane. The man who held the body against his shoulders disappeared, which made Benji frown. What were they up to exactly?

" _The package is on the plane,"_ Brandt said.

"Yeah, I _know_ ," Benji said, still trying to focus on the current situation at hand. "We're currently formulating a plan b, although technically it's a plan c."

" _This isn't going very well,"_ Brandt said back in IMF headquarters.

"I am aware of that, Brandt, you're not helping," Benji said, his voice starting to get on edge.

" _Where's Ethan?"_ Brandt said.

"Um, well, we're on radio-silent," Benji said, trying to focus on the plane, now that the body had disappeared from the pilot's shoulders. He frowned. What in the hell was going on?

" _The plane cannot take off with the package on it_ ," Brandt said, for the umpteenth time. " _You understand?_ "

" _We're working on it_ ," Luther suddenly cut in.

" _Luther? What the hell are you doing there? You're supposed to be on an assignment in Malaysia!_ " Brandt said, completely flabbergasted. This was so going to bite him in the ass.

" _I am in Malaysia. I've been here for two days_ ," Luther replied, climbing up a cell tower. " _Benji asked for my help_."

" _I didn't need help,"_ Benji scowled. " _I just…I needed assistance. It's a different thing."_

Brandt ran a hand over his face, to calm his nerves down as anxiety started to build inside. Great. " _The package is still on the plane,"_ he said.

"We understand the package is still on the plane," Benji whispered. The plane's engine started to heat up, while the pilot jumped off the truck. "We're trying to cripple it remotely."

" _You can do that_?" Brandt said.

" _We can if the pilot built up the satellite uplinks to its on_ ," Luther said, working against protocol.

" _And how do we access the uplink?_ " Brandt asked.

" _It involves hacking into a Russian satellite_ ," Luther replied.

" _I can't authorize that_ ," Brandt cringed.

" _Which is why I didn't ask permission_ ," Luther said, tampering with the uplink box at the tower he stood in.

" _We are under investigation for misconduct!_ " Brandt stressed.

" _The package is on board. What do you want me to do?_ " Luther asked.

Meanwhile Benji continued to watch the blades of the plane start to twist and turn. The plane lit up to life and started to turn toward the airstrip so they could make way and get into the air. Benji gulped and pulled his binoculars away. "Uh…Luther…" Benji began.

" _I'm reading a heat bloom, Benji_ ," Brandt said. " _The engines are starting_."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that," Benji said. "I can't do anything until I'm connected to the satellite."

" _Benji_ ," Luther said. "You're connected!"

"Okay, great," Benji said and took out his tablet beside him, and started to quickly tap into the plane.

" _The package is still on that plane_ ," Brandt said.

" _Check on the fuel pump_ ," Luther suggested.

"Uh…." Benji tapped his tablet, searching through his suggestions and hit it but it was encrypted. Damn. "Mechanicals are locked out."

" _What about the electrical system?_ " Brandt asked nervously.

"Ooh, that might work," Benji said, and went to the electrical system's page but it said but the red circle in the middle marked a dead end for the hacker. "Nope," he said.

" _Hydrolicks!_ " Luther said.

"Okay, stand-by," Benji said, but then frowned, slamming his fist on the screen. "No, they're encrypted."

The plane was getting ready for take off, slowly moving into motion on the airstrip and Brandt was getting anxious by the minute.

" _Benji, the plane!_ " Brandt said, pointing anxiously at the screen back inside IMF headquarters.

"Yes, the package is on the plane, we get it!" Benji growled in annoyance to the analyst.

Suddenly Ethan came running across the green fields, leading toward the airstrip. He knelt down conspicuously, watching the plane start to pull into drive across the airstrip, gaining momentum.

" _Benji, can you open the door?_ " Ethan asked, now online with his ear-comm.

" _Ethan? Where are you?_ " Brandt asked.

" _I'm by the plane_ ," Ethan replied. " _Benji can you open the door?_ "

"Can I open the door? Uh…maybe," Benji said, checking his tablet.

" _Open the door when I tell you!_ " Ethan said, running as fast as he could across the hillside of the field. He jumped on top of the wing on the A400 plane, nearly slipping off. He quickly regained his strength and started walking, and balancing toward the side door he had his eyes set on since the moment the plane was ready to take off. He could feel it underneath his feet as he daringly jumped down from the plane's wing to the side door with holes he could latch onto. He gripped onto them tightly.

" _I'm on the plane!_ " Ethan said.

"How'd you get in the plane?" Benji asked.

" _I'm not in the plane_ ," Ethan said. " _I'm on the plane. Open the door! Benji, open the door!_ "

Benji stood in disbelief as he watched Ethan cling onto the door for dear life. Oh man…he thought as he watched the plane speed up along the airstrip. "Yeah, yeah, okay," he said frantically, and quickly went in search for the mechanicals to open the door.

Ethan cringed, hugging onto the door as he felt the plane push faster. Shit. Benji. Come on.

" _Benji, open that door right now!_ " Brandt said.

Benji didn't miss the worried voice coming deeply from their analyst's lips, but he was trying, honestly he wasn't trying to screw this up, these guys were just smart, obviously.

"I'm trying!" Benji said.

Ethan's legs slipped off the edge of the wing, and dangled in the air, as the plane lifted higher and higher in the sky. Ethan grimaced as his fingers started to burn within the hold on the door's holes. He turned his face in so that he wouldn't get hit by the strong wind that tried to push him down. He gripped on tight with all of his might.

" _Come on, Benji_ ," Luther said.

" _Benji, open that door right now_!" Brandt said frantically.

"Come on, come on," Benji said frantically searching for the door on his tablet. He looked up at the sky and saw the plane high in the air, turning toward a direction that he did not want to see go. "Come on…yes, got it!" he said, once he saw the back door start to open on his tablet.

Ethan glanced over toward the main door as it lowered into the air. "That's the wrong door!" Ethan yelled.

" _Benji, not that door, the other door_!" Luther said.

"Yes, right, the other door, okay," Benji said, getting back to the paradoor. "Sorry, sorry, my bad, my bad! Alright I'm gunna open the paradoor! How's that?" he asked.

Suddenly Ethan felt the door swoosh out from underneath him, causing him to hurtle inside the plane, landing against the other side of the plane.

"Yes!" Carolyn said finally, as she'd just gotten out of her black strap tied around her wrist. "Yay for small wrists, Carolyn," she said. Then she stopped moving due to a body suddenly flying into the plane from the side door. She widened her eyes and blinked curiously. She looked down at him until she'd recognized who he was. "Ethan?!" she said.

He turned up to look at the sound of a familiar voice in his ear, and blinked at her also; totally flabbergasted that she was here, and by the looks of things she was definitely in trouble.

"Carolyn?" he asked, pulling himself up onto his feet. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Um…" she said, and showed him her right wrist that was still attached to the package. Ethan frowned. "It's a long story. Are you okay?" she asked, glancing between the open side door and where Ethan had landed hard against the plane's wall.

Ethan blinked again, and walked over to help her out of her restraints, but then stopped when he heard something from the cockpit, and started to tie her back up against the package. "What the hell?!" she asked. Shock appeared over her face.

"Just act like you're a damsel-in-distress," Ethan said, and hid behind the package.

"I _am_ a damsel-in- _distress_ ," she hissed through clenched teeth, and Ethan waved an anxious hand at her to keep from talking anymore because the co-pilot had walked out to see what was going on.

She gulped. It was Mischa. She looked around her as he looked curiously at the surroundings, wondering how in the hell had the side door and the back door opened up. He looked at her curiously and Carolyn just gave him an innocent shrug as if to say she'd been there the whole time. She chewed her bottom lip to cool her nerves down the best she could. Why did she always get in these situations?

He turned his back toward him, and Ethan used this moment to quickly finish untying her restraints. Then Ethan attached himself to the package, and urged her to come with him. She widened her eyes at what they were about to do, noticing he'd strung the parachute on top of the package. She shook her head, nervously, but Ethan glared at her. She winced and looked at Mischa. She did not want to stay here and get killed, but she didn't want to fly fifty thousand feet in the air down below either.

She gulped and hopped onto Ethan's body strapped tightly against the package, and wrapped her hands around his neck, and locked her legs around him. Ethan didn't miss the fact she was in a slip and in a robe, but that story was going to have to wait. They had to get out of there.

The pilot turned back to face them, and Ethan shrugged innocently, letting the parachute loose. Carolyn gasped at the sudden feel of the package push up in the air and cringed, holding tightly onto Ethan's shoulders, as they flew up in the air, leaving the plane for good. And all Carolyn could do, was scream her bloody lungs out, and hang onto Ethan Hunt for dear life, and listen to Ethan's whispers in her ear, or at least tried to. They seemed to help calm her down, but they also put a small frown on her face.

~*MI*~

Benji walked over to the edge of the grassy filed with his equipment in his hands, and his grassy cover covering his body. He wrapped it around his shoulders as he watched Carolyn fidget and try to get out of the parachute that she'd found herself in. Ethan was nowhere to be found. The super spy had gone his separate way, but at least he got Carolyn out okay. Ethan knew Benji would take care of her back at home. The scene he saw before his eyes made him frown. She was a bloody mess. What happened? How'd she get so messed up? Wasn't she getting better?

She finally shouted out loud unable to help but feel the emotions running through her broken soul. She was frustrated, not only because she couldn't get out of her tangled mess, but because she was so messed up.

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Her hands fell into her lap, as she looked around, feeling very, very stupid, and very tired, like she just didn't care at how she looked anymore. She watched the men ahead of her as the IMF sweepers came to dissemble the Russian men. She sighed, good riddance. She looked down at her curled hands within her lap, and wondered what she was supposed to do now, trapped entangled within her parachute and trying to get over the fact that she'd just fell fifty thousand feet from the sky. She was shaking as an after-effect until Benji's shadow loomed over her.

"F.O.C," Benji sighed with a shake of his head.

She looked up at the former technician, shielding the sun from her eyes, peeking out behind the clouds.

"Hi Benji," she greeted grimly. She swallowed in her tears, and wiped them away with the thumbs of her hands.

She was a mess. Again. Why did things like this always happen to her?

Benji helped her out of her parachute, and the web of the strings fell off of her. He looked her up and down, frowning at the short slip and robe she was dressed in. She had bare feet that dug into the grass, getting all muddy from the morning dew. Her hair was everywhere, sticking up in various places, almost like a bush.

At least she didn't have any bruises on her this time, or at least he didn't see any, just the red marks on her wrists probably due to restraints or something. She just looked sad, and tired, and probably afraid, more than what she was letting him see now. Benji had so many questions for her, and he was betting that Brandt did too, knowing that the analyst was watching, not that Carolyn had a clue. He wondered if he should tell her that…but by the looks of things, Carolyn probably shouldn't know too much about what was going at the moment. She seemed to be in a bit of a pickle herself.

He pulled her in for a hug. Carolyn hugged him back, not caring if he was covered in grass, weeds, and leaves, or the fact that she was literally half-naked in a slip, robe, and walking barefoot. Her feet were probably covered in dirt and soil by now.

He pulled off his grass of cover for her, to cover herself up. The robe wasn't helping. It was too short and too flimsy. Whatever the devil had gotten this girl into… Benji shook his head. Carolyn thanked the former technician silently as they started walking down the airstrip to the IMF SUV's parked out front.

"I take it this wasn't a rescue mission," Carolyn whispered, eyeing the package filled nerve gas, as the IMF sweepers took care of it.

Benji's lips deepened further into a frown at her words that stung his ears. He wished he could say that it was, but they were so focused on getting the package, that he'd forgotten about the body being carried on the plane. The silhouette of a body Benji saw before had belonged to his friend, Carolyn. He wanted to know why and how she'd gotten here at this point, and he was definitely going to try to find out on their way home.

She chewed her bottom lip. She would've been killed. She gulped at the troubling thought racing across her mind.

"Not technically," Benji said with a small cringe. "And you'll have to be brought in for questioning."

Carolyn's ears turned pink at that, slightly afraid. She tugged the grassy covered blanket tighter around her. "Why?" she asked.

"Procedure," he scowled.

"IMF didn't seem to care last time," Carolyn said.

"Well, last time, the IMF wasn't being investigated for misconduct," Benji said, glancing at her.

Carolyn raised her eyebrows. "What?" she asked, blinking a couple of times, trying to see if she heard Benji correctly. "By who? Can't Brandt do anything about it?" she asked.

"You'd think," Benji said, tilting his head from side to side. "Being the analyst that he is, well…" he whispered to her. Carolyn furrowed her brows at him, waiting for Benji to continue. "Now Brandt's a Field Operations Director…and…the CIA is over seeing Brandt and the whole operations thing. He's, ah, under a lot of stress right now. And Brandt's kind of afraid of them." He said, waving his hands in the air as he spoke about the CIA and Brandt's current predicament back at headquarters. It was a bloody mess.

Carolyn raised her eyebrows at Benji when he mentioned Brandt was afraid of the CIA. She almost cracked a smile because Brandt couldn't be afraid of the CIA. He wasn't afraid of anything. But still, she could sort of picture it with some big and scary guy, tall, and totally towering over Brandt, watching his every move like a cat. That would be so nerve wrecking, and very stressful indeed. Carolyn might just take jumping out of a plane over that. Might. She still didn't like it.

" _No, I'm not!_ " Brandt cut in over Benji's ear-comm. " _Tell her I'm not afraid…you know what? Just let me speak to her…"_

Benji's eyes flicked over to Carolyn, as she brushed the side of her cheek with the palm of her hand. She frowned at the grime and sweat that came off her face, and brushed her hand against her robe. He pulled out his ear-comm.

" _Benji, don't you dare…_ " Brandt warned, but Benji turned it off. He sighed, no more voices in his ear. He could actually think for himself now, even though he was positive Brandt was still watching them.

Carolyn sucked in her lips, inhaling a small breath. A lot has happened since she went to Vienna apparently, and almost slept with a terrorist. She gulped, feeling dread wash over her. Like that was going to look good on her record. Carolyn sighed. She really didn't know how she was going to explain her irrational actions to the IMF, or the CIA. This was going to be bad and she was really dreading it.

Benji then looked at her thoughtfully. "Did, you want to talk to him?" he asked, holding the ear-comm in his palm out to her.

Carolyn swallowed hard, and sighed. She wanted to, but not in this awful state she was in. Honestly, she didn't even know what to say to him. She glanced down at her incredibly unkempt state and shook her head. Honestly, she was thankful that Benji took out his ear-comm.

She shook her head. "No," she whispered. "Is um…Jane around?"

Benji frowned. "She's on assignment, love. I'm sorry…"

She swallowed hard again, trying not to cry. She couldn't believe what an idiot she'd been. And now she was going to have to go through IMF customs and get questioned about what she'd done. She gulped, swallowing hard. She was not looking forward to that at all; after all she almost slept with a terrorist.

It was like logic flew out the window. Was it really so bad to try and move on and forget and try to actually have a vacation for once?

Apparently it was way too much to ask.

She sighed. "Can we go home now?" she asked.

Benji nodded, and together they headed toward the line of blacked-out SUV's much like the one she rode in when she met Brandt and the Secretary. She sighed. Home was not too far away and all Carolyn wanted to do was hide under the covers forever.


	4. Chapter 3: Pretzels

**A/n: Thank you to my followers, favorites, readers, and reviews!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI: Rogue Nation belongs to its respective owners. I just own my OC. Writing for fun, and not for profit.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~()~**

 **Chapter 3: Pretzels**

The plane ride was quiet as Carolyn tried her best to go to sleep. Benji snored soundlessly next to her, while she tried to get comfortable against the stiff pillow behind her back that wasn't helping at all. She took her pillow away from her back and set it within her lap, hands curled within one another.

She was on her way home. She was just a couple hours out. They changed planes in New York and made their way down to Washington D.C. where IMF headquarters was present. It was possible that she was nervous about going to the headquarters for several reasons. She didn't want to take the polygraph questionnaire she would have to take when she got to the facility. Thank God, they had a half-hour leeway in New York so she could find some clothes, and get changed A.S.A.P. She couldn't stand being in that robe and slip anymore, and she certainly didn't want to walk down the cold corridors that belong to the IMF headquarters with the Walk-of-Shame phrase tattooed onto her forehead.

And then she was going to have to deal with…

"Peanuts?" a flight attendant asked in a small whisper. She came over to Carolyn with a basket of assorted bags of food in her hands.

Carolyn looked over Benji's quiet form, and peeked inside the basket. "Do you have something else instead?"

"Pretzels, and cookies," the flight attendant replied, poking her purple painted fingernail around the basket.

"I'll take both, please, and thank you," Carolyn said.

The flight attendant smiled at her. "Drinks will be up shortly."

"Thank you," Carolyn said, taking both pretzel and cookie bags away from the basket and into her pillow-covered lap with a sigh.

Since she'd learned that Brandt was allergic to peanuts, she hasn't been a peanut girl. She tried to avoid peanuts whenever she could, which meant she had to depart from her long lost love of Snickers…but she loved Brandt more than chocolate and peanuts.

Carolyn blinked at the thought in her head that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. What? She felt her eyes grow wide with shock stinging inside her eyeballs. Where in the hell did _that_ come from? She wondered to herself. And Benji was asleep. Most of everyone on the plane was asleep and she couldn't even share it with anyone!

She sighed, and opened the bag of pretzels furiously in which a bunch of tiny little pretzels ended up all over the place. A few had flung in Benji's face, waking him up.

"No masks?!" Benji said, jerking awake.

Carolyn arched an eyebrow at Benji and shrugged innocently. She looked at Benji's grouchy facial expression on his face and she offered him a pretzel. "Pretzel?" she asked. He grabbed one and plopped it in his mouth.

"I don't like being woken up like that," he said, chewing in between his words as he spoke with his mouthful.

Carolyn reached for the pretzels that had fallen onto the floor, hitting her head against the seat in front of her. She cringed and put them on the side of her pillow. She was not one of those five-second rule people. She wasn't going to eat them.

"Sorry," she said with a frown. "I just…I'm such a mess right now, Benji. What am I going to do? How can I even prepare for this questionnaire thing?"

Benji looked over at his friend, and despite the grogginess he felt, as he tried to wipe the dead sleep from his eyelids with the pads of his thumbs, he noticed that she was genuinely scared. And a genuine screw up. There was no acronym for that.

"Should I call you, F.U.C.?" Benji asked in a low whisper.

Carolyn's cheeks turned crimson red, and she smacked his shoulder, unable to help, but giggle quietly behind the palm of her hand, and sighed. "I was getting used to F.O.C."

Benji's frown turned into a grin. "Don't worry, we'll be home in no time, and you'll be able to see Brandt in action! How cool would that be?"

Carolyn smiled at Benji's continued enthusiasm. That would be cool to see Brandt at his work place. It would be different, and weird, actually, especially if the CIA was at IMF headquarters, overseeing operations. She wasn't even sure how she could function in a place like that.

"Benji," she said. "How bad is it?"

"What do you mean?" Benji said, furrowing his brows. He pulled his glasses out from the front seat pocket and put them on.

Carolyn handed him another pretzel, and he plopped it in his mouth.

"I mean since the CIA is there…" she said slowly. "What's going to happen?"

"I don't know, love," Benji said sadly. "I just know we need to be extra diligent. And um, I'm sure that'll mean keeping your hands to yourself when you're with Brandt."

Carolyn glared at him. "Benji!" she hissed.

"What?" Benji asked with a grin on his face. "It's been how long since you've seen him? I'm surprised you didn't want to jump on him through the earpiece. I could see the look in your eyes. You _so_ wanted to talk to him," Benji teased.

"Did not," Carolyn muttered, and plopped another pretzel in her mouth. "I'm _sure_ I can try to contain myself around him during these stressful times."

"Ha, I was _right_ ," Benji said proudly. "You _do_ like him."

Carolyn gaped at him. "I do not!"

"Love, I am trained in the art of finding out the truth. And right there, I just found out your true desire for our analyst," Benji said.

Carolyn slid further in her seat. She was definitely going to fail her polygraph test.

The flight attendant returned with a trolley of drinks. "Something to drink?"

"Alcohol helps calm the nerves down right?" Carolyn asked the flight attendant in a small whisper.

The flight attendant looked at Carolyn with a questionable look. "Um, I'm not sure…I'm not really an expert on that but-"

"How much?" Carolyn asked.

"Five dollars and up," the flight attendant said with a smile. "You can pay with cash or credit."

Carolyn took out the platinum card from her back pocket, and she handed it to the flight attendant. "Double it, please," she said, sending Benji a quiet glare.

"Red or white?" the flight attendant asked.

"White," she said. "And make sure it has no almonds please. Very allergic."

"No problem," the flight attendant said. "I know just the thing."

She went in search for Carolyn's wine. Benji watched with astonished eyes. "I'm completely shocked."

"Yeah, well, you left me no choice," Carolyn said.

"I only did that because I was _prepping_ you," Benji said in a more serious tone that caught her attention. "That's what they'll do. They'll ask you a series of questions, but forming different techniques to conceal the same question in a different way to confuse you."

Carolyn smiled her thanks at the flight attendant as the flight attendant handed Carolyn her tall glass of Chardonnay. She leaned the bottom of the glass against her pillow and sighed, trying to relax her nerves. Benji ordered a brandy. The flight attendant swiped the card, and handed it back to Benji, who pocketed it. The flight attendant walked down the aisle to tend to other night owls around the plane.

"I _do_ like Brandt," Carolyn said, glancing over at Benji. Benji arched an eyebrow at her. "I think I like him more than I care to admit out loud. But, I don't want him to know that. Okay?"

"Why not?" he asked, taking a small sip of the amber liquid within his brandy glass and gulped it down.

Carolyn drew in a deep breath, and stared out the dark window. "I don't want to jeopardize anything. Do you think you can try to keep him busy when we get back? I just want to be in and out as fast as possible…please Benji?" she scooted in her seat so that her back faced the small window and she gave Benji a pleading look with her hands clasped together. "Please? And you can't say a word. _Promise_ me you won't tell."

Benji frowned at her words spewing out of her mouth. They were urgent and they were real. She really didn't want Brandt know how she felt about him. But why? He wondered. Benji eyed her up and down as she pleaded and pouted, waiting for an answer.

"Okay," he said, letting a small sigh of defeat leave his lips. "I promise not to tell him." Something was wrong, Benji thought. What happened to Carolyn while she was in Europe? That's all she told him. All she said was that she was really on vacation this time, and not on stress-leave. Benji was going to find out what happened to his friend because nobody messed with his friends, especially this one that he'd grown so fond of in the last few months. He really missed her candid spirit, but her spirit seemed to be flickering right before his very own tired eyes. Something bad happened to her. No doubt about it. And he would've told Brandt had she told him what happened, and how she even got on to the A400 plane, but he wasn't going to pry. It seemed like a touchy subject. So when she was ready to talk, he would try to be there for her, in the best way he could.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "The questionnaire isn't long, right?"

Benji shook his head. "It's like the game of twenty-questions except you're strapped to a laptop and the lady's trying really hard not to judge you."

Carolyn cringed. Judging? There will be judging involved? "Oh," she said. "No pressure."

"No pressure," he said and together they raised their glasses and clinked against each other. Benji took a sip of his brandy, but Carolyn didn't take a sip of hers. She just held onto her glass stem very tightly between her hands, staring out the passing dark clouds as they headed home.


	5. Chapter 4: London

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I just own my OC. I am writing for fun, and not for profit.**

 **Chapter 4: London**

Carolyn couldn't decide which record to choose from. The store was about to close and her indecisiveness showed upon her face, as a Clerk girl walked over to her. She was dressed in a black outfit, very stylish, and had blonde long hair. She looked like a real Londoner.

She smiled as the girl approached her, "Can I help you decide?" she asked with a smile on her face, and folded her hands in front of her.

Carolyn sighed, holding out two records in each of her hands. "I can't choose between Oasis and Muse."

The clerk continued to smile as she glanced at the record titles. The Muse record title was _Absolution_ , while the Oasis's title was _The Masterplan_.

"They're both very good," the Clerk said in her thick British accent. "Lately I've been listening to the softer side of music, but if I were to choose for you, I'd go with Muse. _Absolution_ is a great album. And you seem the type."

"I do?" Carolyn asked with a small laugh that left her lips.

The Clerk girl nodded. "Muse has those light vocals, and different instruments from wind to bass playing in the background. The sound runs deep through the soul. Though, they've come up with some pretty electrified music as of late...Madness is a good song."

Carolyn smiled widely at her. Muse did sound good, but she felt differently tonight. It was a tough choice because both bands were awesome. "Thank you, but I think I'll pick Oasis. I've been on a major Oasis kick lately," Carolyn said, as she placed the Muse record back into its little slot with the other records, and she handed it to the Clerk.

The Clerk smiled thinly at her and took the record from her hands. "Shall I ring it up for you then?"

"Please," Carolyn said.

"You're accent," The Clerk said, as she started to ring up the record at her desk. She noticed her slight accent was off, and not what it appeared to be. "It's…interesting."

"Oh," Carolyn blushed, suddenly feeling the panicked pitfalls of her stomach rush up to her heart. "Sorry. I tend to blend in sometimes when I slip into another country, and my accents go back and forth. I love traveling around the world, and I've always wanted to come here. It is so beautiful."

The Clerk girl smiled sweetly at her, as she walked around the counter to ring up Carolyn's choice. Carolyn glanced around her surroundings inside the record store. The floors beneath her boots were white and black checkered. There were rows of records dating from rare to new in which Carolyn spent at least three hours in searching for the right ones. After she ate, she came here in knowing this was one of the hot spots.

"Where are you from?" the Clerk asked curiously as she took the money from Carolyn's hand. She returned the change in pounds, and Carolyn pocketed into her black wallet.

Carolyn placed her wallet back into her maroon leather purse that looked great against her white pea coat, perfect for the cool weather London was having.

"Seattle," Carolyn said with a smile.

"Hmm," the Clerk said, nodding as she took a black bag from the shelf underneath her cashier drawer and she carefully placed the record inside the bag. "Well, there you go."

"Sorry, if I took up your time," Carolyn said.

The clerk smiled and shook her head, "It's alright, we're about to close, anyway."

"Thank you for your help," Carolyn said, and took the bag into her hands, smiling at the British blonde before she headed outside, though bumping into someone completely solid. "Oh, sorry, sir, I'll um, be more…" But she didn't get to finish because as soon as she looked up and into his familiar eyes, a smile appeared on her face. "Ethan!"

Ethan Hunt blinked at her. "Carolyn…?" he asked. "Didn't I just leave you with…Benji?"

Carolyn closed her mouth and blushed. She pulled another strand of hair over the curved shell of her ear and began to explain her situation. "I'm here on vacation. Ethan, just because something bad happened to me in Vienna does not mean I'm going to stop traveling the world."

Ethan furrowed his brows at her curiously, searching her face. Carolyn raised her eyebrows at him until Ethan suddenly realized the real reason why she was here. Carolyn winced at his facial expression and gulped. "You're doing this to run away from him aren't you?"

"What?" Carolyn asked with a small laugh. "Don't be ridiculous! Ethan, I'm..." she sighed, trying to find the right words to say, but her words would always come up like garbage. She was never good at explaining things.

Ethan nodded at her. "Uh-huh," he said a little bit cautiously of her.

Carolyn looked down. "It's too hard," she said. "He's...just always there. And we can't be together. I get that. And I know we're in separate states, but it just feels like...I can sense him near me. It's...Will really made an impact on my life, Ethan. I don't know how I can face...reality. You know? Like the way it was...before."

"We'll talk later," Ethan said. "In the meantime I…"

Carolyn suddenly beamed at him and Ethan gave her a funny yet questionable look. "You're going on a mission. Aren't you?"

Ethan cringed. There was no fooling Carolyn was there? "Yes, but I need you to go home."

Carolyn frowned. "Go home?" she asked. "Home reminds me of _him_ , Ethan. I'm not going home. I'm staying here, whether you like it or not. And besides, I'm smart, and capable of doing stuff. What if you need my gymnastics expertise again?"

Ethan chuckled, and shook his head. "Oh, no, that's not going to happen. I'm not going to need you. If you insist on staying in London, see Big Ben, the London Eye; Hell, go buy yourself some Prada shoes, I don't care. At least I know you'll be out of harm's way," Ethan said, for he was about to fish her some money just to get her to leave, and Carolyn would have taken the money, but she shoved it back at him. The paper money flew to the ground. "If you know what's good for you, and I know you do," Ethan said in a harsh tone of voice in hopes that his angry tone would scare her off. " _Stay away_ from me."

Carolyn's frown deepened, as Ethan let her out. She was hesitant to leave, but Ethan walked inside, and headed over toward the middle of the record store, where the Clerk girl walked over to Ethan, smiling slightly with wide eyes.

Suddenly, a cool presence took a hold of Carolyn and she looked over at the man who'd just joined her from the outside of the store. She gulped.

"You need to be a lot more convincing than that, _Gina_ ," Lane whispered in the dark. Carolyn glanced at him and sent him a quiet glare. Solomon Lane was tall, and thin with blonde hair. He was an older gentleman with glasses perched upon his nose, always looking down on you as if you weren't good enough to be in his circle, but Gina Carr _was_ good enough, and she was going to prove it.

"I'm doing my best," Carolyn said, trying not to sound irritable around him. "You were right. Ethan _is_ smart. You have to anticipate his every move."

"Or _you_ do," he said. Lane nodded and handed her a tiny box in the palm of her hand. She opened it and smiled at the site of the contact lens.

She took the contact lens out of the box, and tossed the box into the bushes beside the record store. She carefully placed the lens inside her right eye, and allowed Lane to take her arm in his gentle way.

They walked inside the record store and the Clerk widened her eyes as Lane aimed his shotgun at her head. The clerk froze and was about to call for help, until Lane shot beside her to keep quiet. She jumped at the sound of the gunshot in the record store.

The girl didn't need to be told twice that this was a setup and her heart was pounding. She walked out from behind the counter top and looked at Carolyn with such disgust, as Carolyn tightened the bag in her hands. She smirked at the Clerk as Lane held the Clerk hostage.

The smoke filled the glass that Ethan Hunt had found him self in. He spun around and glanced at the two women Lane held against their wills. He stepped back and shot the Clerk, as Carolyn tried to escape Lane. The Clerk slipped to the floor while Lane grabbed Carolyn by the arm and forced the gun to her head. She looked at him with worried eyes.

Ethan banged against the glass a few times in anger as he tried to get to her, unable to stand to see the tears rolling down her face as his heart pounded against his chest. He tried to scream out to her, but the gas inside the chamber was filled with a toxin that made him unconscious.


	6. Chapter 5: Washington DC

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I just own my OC. I am writing for fun and not for profit.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 5: Washington D.C.**

"The IMF's misadventures date back to my earliest days at the CIA," Agent Hunley's said as his voice carried throughout the Senate's hall. "When the IMF broke into the CIA to steal a list of covert operatives," Agent Hunley said without missing a beat.

Agent William Brandt glanced over at the Director of the CIA, and tilted his head to the side. This man was out for blood, Brandt thought. He had a pretty good leg up on them, but Brandt wasn't going to let the IMF get dismantled.

"And now more recently, a Russian armhead-"

" _Disarmed_ Russian warhead," Brandt said, cutting Hunley's words off.

"A Russian _nuclear_ warhead," Hunley contradicted, as he pointed his clicker at the projection screen right across from them.

"Rendered safe by the IMF," Brandt said over Hunley's voice as the screen popped up, showing the outline of the Russian Nuclear warhead that Brandt and his team took down almost three months ago.

"Clipped the Transamerica pyramid before plunging into the San Francisco Bay," Hunley said.

The picture on the screen showed exactly just what Hunley described. Brandt looked over at the screen, watching the missile scatting by the building, and indeed heading into the Pacific waters of the ocean.

"Saving the Western Hemisphere," Brandt said.

"This made possible by IMF agents who did willingly provide the launch codes to a _known_ terrorist," Hunley continued making his point heard to the Senate committee that sat before them in a long table that stretched across the front of the room. Hunley turned in his seat at his table. "Do I have that right, Agent Brandt?"

The Senate members turned their heads to stare at the young agent seated at his table beside Hunley.

Brandt looked down at his own table. "I can neither confirm nor deny the details of the operation without the Secretary's approval."

Hunley sighed in a huff before he got up from his seat almost in anger, but he attempted to keep his cool as he walked down the aisle. He was going to break Brandt with everything he got, and he had something else under his sleeve, in which he was going to use as the last resort.

"I would like to take this moment, Mr. Chairman, to remind us all that they had one civilian with them in the witness of harm's way," Hunley said.

Brandt looked up from the table, his eyes flickering over to Hunley, as he tried to mask his feelings suddenly rushing inside of him. No, he thought. She wasn't here. She couldn't be here. She was safe, and away from this life.

"Continue," One of the Chair members of the Senate committee said.

"I would like to call Miss Carolyn Mason to the floor," Hunley said, pointing to the doors, as the doors opened behind Brandt. "Former freaked-out-civilian. She worked with them, and helped them get the codes, and handed them over to the terrorist."

Brandt turned around in his seat, and widened his eyes completely stunned to see her in the middle of the doorway. He felt very shocked to his core as Carolyn stood there in the middle of the threshold. She looked okay, not so scared like he thought she was going to be. She even looked beautiful, dressed in black slacks, and a dark plum blaze jacket that made her look tall. Was she wearing high heels? Brandt could tell, she was slightly taller than her normal height. He smiled at her appearance as he spotted a heart necklace with diamonds glittered underneath the hot florescent lighting in the room as she stood there, smoothing out her wavy curls of brown hair that cascaded around her shoulders.

Carolyn drew in a deep breath as she walked down the aisle, all eyes on her. The nerves burned against her skin and she never felt more nervous in her life. Well, she had, but for some reason, she felt like this was much more drastic. She had wanted to be in and out as fast as possible, but according to her polygraph, there was a glitch, and apparently they found something that wasn't right. And Carolyn was in fact, freaking out on the inside.

Brandt stood up in his seat and walked over to her, stopping her in the middle of her trek. She looked up at him as his fingers gently curled around her elbow. She shivered as the warmth of his hands surged through her like a comfort that she needed right now, but now here. She was breathing hard and her heart was pounding at the thought of being so close to him right now in this moment and time, and she was sure that her cheeks were crimson.

"Brandt," she said softly, trying to keep her bubbling nerves inside her stomach down as best as she could. She tried to wretch out of his grasp, not wanting to be seen together like this in front of the Senate and Hunley. Brandt got the message and placed his hands to his sides.

"You don't have to do this," Brandt said in a heated rush of words spewing out of his mouth.

"It's Ethan," Carolyn whispered, keeping her voice low so only Brandt could hear, as she gazed into his deep blue eyes filled with concern. "Of course I do. Whether intentional or not, he saved my life. Twice," she held up two fingers in his eyes. He smiled at her.

"I helped," Brandt said.

Carolyn couldn't help but grin, her cheeks felt like they were on fire. "A little bit," she said. She glanced over at Agent Hunley, the big and burley man Benji had described over to her before she came to D.C. "I can do this. Besides," she said. "Agent Hunley doesn't scare me like he scares you," she teased.

"He does _not_ scare me," Brandt mumbled underneath is breath.

"Agent Brandt," Hunley's voice boomed, cutting in between the couple.

Carolyn sighed, and nodded with shining confidence in her eyes. "I got this."

"Okay," Brandt said, and let her go up to the very front of the room. He took his seat in his chair with a sigh. "You have the floor, Mr. Hunley."

"Thank you, Agent Brandt," Hunley said. "Miss Mason, you may have a seat." Hunley laid out a chair for her up at the front and she glanced at it curiously, as she looked at the Senate Committee right before her own eyes. She walked over to her chair and sat down, bringing her posture upward and her chin up. "Miss Mason, you are sitting before a Senate Committee, remember who you're talking to. If we find out you've lied to us, we will further investigate your position. Understood?"

"Understood," Carolyn said, nodding her head at Hunley.

"Excellent," Hunley said with a smile on his face. "Let's begin."

"This is the same week that the IMF infiltrated the Kremlin," Agent Hunley said, as he walked slowly up to the front. "Here is the Kremlin now," he clicked and changed pictures that showed the Kremlin in full view of Brandt's eyes just as it was, nice and normal, perfect for site-seeing. He snapped the picture again and in return the picture changed to the Kremlin up in black smoke. "And the Kremlin after."

"Miss Mason," Hunley said. "You were there the morning of the Kremlin and when it blew up that landed you in a hospital, is that correct?"

Carolyn swallowed hard and gulped. "Yes," she said. "That is correct," she cleared her throat and folded her hands over her knee as she shifted in her seat.

"What were you doing at the Kremlin, Miss Mason?" Hunley asked.

"I was site-seeing, Mr. Hunley," Carolyn replied curtly.

"In which of course you had no idea that the Kremlin would be up in smoke, correct?" Hunley spun around, turning to face her.

"That is correct, yes, sir," Carolyn nodded, glancing back at the photo as it jogged and jarred her memory to that day that she had worked so hard to get over, but now was coming back to haunt her. She swallowed down her nerves. "It landed me in the hospital."

"And in that hospital, you met Ethan Hunt," Hunley said.

"Yes," she said, flicking her eyes from the Kremlin on the screen to Hunley. "But what you don't understand is that he saved my life. He got me out in one piece. I would've been tortured for information by the Russian police who thought I was a potential asset to Hunt's team, in the same mind you probably think I am to the IMF, and I can assure you that we are not working together."

" _Really?_ " Hunley said. "Agent Brandt?" he turned to face the young agent, watching the exchange with careful eyes.

Brandt silently drew in a deep breath as he looked at the photos, and then looked at Carolyn and then turned his head to face Hunley and then flicked his eyes toward the Senate committee. "You heard the truth of an innocent witness, Mr. Chairman. But as you know, I can neither confirm nor deny the details of any operation without the Secretary's approv-"

"Approval," Hunley finished for him. "Yes we know. In fact until this panel appoints a new secretary, you really can't say much of anything, can you, Agent Brandt?"

"Well, I didn't write the rules, Mr. Hunley," Brandt said, glancing up at him.

Carolyn felt the tension span ten fold around her, and she widened her eyes totally astonished, as Brandt came back to speak in return with such wit, in which of course she knew he had, but she wasn't totally expecting it right then and there.

"I have no further questions right now, Miss Mason, take a seat," Hunley said, offering her to sit down at one of the leather seats behind them. Carolyn gulped nervously as she sat herself up and walked across the floor over to one of the seats behind the railing that fenced the off the Senate. She glanced between Brandt and Hunley unsure of where to sit because this wasn't like a normal courtroom like you see in _Law and Order_. She sat down beside the chair that Hunley offered her to sit down that was beside his table, and she closed her lips shut to keep from speaking her mind.

"Mr. Chairman, the so-called Mission Impossible Force is not just a rogue organization. It is an out-dated one, a throw back to an era without transparency, and without oversight, and as you can see have brought in a civilian into the mix! We can't have civilians knowing the IMF exists, nor how it operates-"

Carolyn's confidence suddenly drifted away from her when she listened to Hunley's words spewing out of his mouth.

"Mr. Chairman," Brandt tried to speak, but Hunley had the floor.

"The time has come to dissolve the IMF and transfer salvageable assets," Hunley continued over Brandt's voice.

Carolyn's eyes danced back and forth between Hunley and Brandt as they both argued over one another in the room.

"Mr. Chairman," Brandt tried again.

"To the CIA!" Hunley said.

"Mr. Chairman, the IMF has operated without oversight for forty years," Brandt said as his voice echoed throughout the room. "Now there are its methods unorthodox, yes! Or its results less than perfect," Brandt continued over Hunley's voice as he tried to keep Brandt from speaking out against him. "Absolutely! Without the IMF there will be-"

"Order and stability!" Hunley said, waving his pointed finger at the table.

Carolyn winced during the argument, as two men's voices carried throughout the room, arguing over whether or not the IMF should be allowed to run or not. She looked at Brandt with a disappointed look on her face as the scene unfolded before her eyes.

"Without the IMF…" Brandt said, but he was cut off by the Chairman's gavel hitting hard against the wooden platform, shutting the two men up.

"This panel recognizes the IMF's global contribution, but the events laid out by CIA Director Hunley," the Chairman said. "Also show a pattern of wants and brinkmanship, and a total disregard for protocol. From where I sit, your unorthodox methods are indistinguishable chance and your results, perfect or not, look suspiciously like luck."

Carolyn looked at the Chairman in the middle who was speaking now. She glanced over at Brandt and could only imagine how he must be feeling right now because she felt it too. They were getting ready to say goodbye to the IMF, the one operation Carolyn had trust in because they'd saved her life.

Carolyn stood up from her seat. She was _not_ going to take this. "But that luck saved my life, and I owe them everything."

Brandt and Hunley's heads turned to face her. Brandt couldn't believe she'd spoken up like that, and he would've smiled if it hadn't been for what he was feeling right now.

"A life of a civilian saved by luck is just luck, Miss Mason. We can't leave that luck to chance for saving seven billion lives. I'm afraid today is the day, the IMF's luck, runs out," the Chairman finalized, and Carolyn slowly sat down in her chair, feeling defeated.

They couldn't do this. It wasn't fair. If it wasn't for the IMF, Carolyn wouldn't be here today, and she never would have met Agent Brandt, of whom she was slowly falling in love with. She'd tried to deny it, but she couldn't, so she just let her love and caring for him fill her heart, which evidentially gave her a little bit of confidence to deal with Hunley's questioning. Although, she had a feeling Hunley wasn't done with her yet, as he looked at her with suspicious eyes. She'd done a lot more on that trip in Moscow than what she was letting on of course.

But could she really tell him how she felt? She certainly couldn't tell him now, not after hearing the IMF was over, and she wanted to help in anyway shape or form. After all, she owed the IMF her life. She looked over at Brandt, and gave him a sympathetic look as the Senate Committee called for a recess. Carolyn sighed. So much for being in and out as quick as possible.

~*O*~

 **A/n: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. :) If you guys have any suggestions you'd like to see happen to Carolyn, Brandt, and the team, don't be afraid to let me know, and I'll try to fit it in!**


	7. Chapter 6: Nice Shoes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun, and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 6: Nice Shoes**

 **London, England**

She wasn't sure how long she'd been knocked out, but a cough that filtered around the room rang in her ears, and her eyes fluttered open. She opened her eyes and stared forward as her eyes blinked into focus. The room around her looked very much like a torture chamber, and that scared her. Carolyn swallowed hard, as she tried to move in her spot on the floor, but she couldn't. Her wrists were tight with barbed wire, pinching into her skin. She also noticed that her white pea coat had been taken off, and thrown on the table. She was dressed in her regular jeans, and a blue V-neck top same as she'd left her hotel room this morning to do a little site-seeing before her rendezvous would begin. Her maroon leather purse was sitting beside her jacket.

Another cough echoed throughout the walls of the room, and this time she looked over to the man that was attached to a wooden beam attached from the floor. Only small amounts of light flooded the room, but she could only recognize this person as Ethan Hunt.

He was bare-chested, and had his wrists tied above his head.

"Ethan," Carolyn said, straining her neck to figure out where the door was. She looked back at Ethan. "Are you alright?"

Ethan blinked at the small voice echoing inside his ears. He looked down at the fragile Carolyn Mason, curled in a fetal position. He was honestly surprised at how well she was taking this. Then again, Ethan thought as he'd remembered that this was not her first mission. He sighed. And now here she was trapped with him again.

He tried to push her away, and he thought he'd succeeded, but whoever shot the Clerk girl in the record store had gotten to her unfortunately and brought her here, in what Ethan could only assume was to torture him. Poor Carolyn, he thought, as he looked at her. She was probably freaking out on the inside right now, and he couldn't be there to comfort her. He didn't want this for her. And here, she was asking him if he was alright. He smiled at her slightly, and was about to reply until the door creaked open, and slammed heavily against the wall.

"Just stay calm," Ethan said, looking into Carolyn's frightened eyes. "I'm going to get you out of this I promise."

Carolyn nodded indefinitely, though she glanced down at his ankles, also tied by black restraints. "I know you will."

She looked at the woman who entered the room, heels clicking against the cement floor that echoed in Carolyn's ears. They looked like velvet. Carolyn thought they were interesting for someone like her especially who was working with such a a psychopath. This woman was suspicious though, in Carolyn's eyes. She seemed sweet on the outside, but in her hands, the woman carried several items that Carolyn did not like. Who liked drug-induced items anyway? No one.

The woman set down the silver bowl on the table, and took off her leather jacket. Carolyn strained her neck to try and see what was going on. The woman set several mini bottles of clear liquid on the table, and set down two syringes on the table that made Carolyn's heart drop.

Ethan looked over at the table until he saw the key-set sitting all by its lonesome, waiting for him to take it, and get him and Carolyn out of there. He looked up at the pole not attached to the ceiling. All he had to do was try to get out of his restraints, and defeat her. Shouldn't be too hard.

The woman unbuttoned one button of her blouse, let out a small sigh, and turned around to face Ethan.

Then she took off her black velvet shoes and set them on the table next to the items. Carolyn frowned, as the woman pulled up her sleeves up her arm. She stepped over Carolyn's body and stared at Ethan.

"Thanks," Carolyn muttered under her breath.

The door suddenly whipped open revealing men dressed in black. Carolyn, Ethan, and the unknown woman turned their heads to stare at them as they walked inside. Carolyn gulped.

" _What are you doing here?"_ the woman demanded.

Carolyn chewed her lip, glancing at the men as they filtered about the room, taking their places.

"Hmm?" the woman tried again.

The leader of the men closed the door.

" _I said, what are you doing here?"_ she asked.

The man, Carolyn noticed as he walked over to face Ethan closer to him, probably to study him, was tall and muscular. He crossed his arm over his chest, and placed a hand over his chin, stroking it with his fingers. "What does he see in you, I wonder?" he asked in an English tone.

"Who is he?" Ethan asked.

The man suddenly threw a hard punch in Ethan's stomach, as a response. Ethan groaned at the harsh impact on his body, and if it hadn't been for his restraints he was sure that he would've fallen.

"Ethan!" Carolyn cried.

" _You were supposed to kill her,"_ the man pointed toward Carolyn who widened her eyes in shock.

The brunette glanced down at Carolyn behind her, and stepped closer as if she were protecting her. Carolyn didn't understand. " _I was ordered to keep her alive for leverage. Ethan cares about her. She would be no good to me dead."_ The woman responded in confidence.

Ethan watched the conversation between them, and then looked at Carolyn. Carolyn shared a worried look with Ethan, unsure of what he was thinking right now.

" _Alright then,"_ he said. " _Let's put it to the test. I want to see what he's made of,_ " But he spoke in another language. Carolyn watched with worried eyes as he walked over to the table, and pulled out his box of tools, setting it on the table.

"Why don't you take off the cuffs and I'll show you?" Ethan asked. "Vinter."

"You know who I am?" Vinter said, taking off his silver ring, as he placed his finger in his mouth and licked it.

Carolyn made a face, and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Janik Vinter. They call you the Bone Doctor," Ethan said.

Vinter lifted up his toolbox revealing eight different tools that were used for different things.

Carolyn's heart twisted in knots as she looked at those knives perfect for skinning flesh, and she shivered. No one liked that at all. You had to be a definite psycho to be into that, and she was not. Lane didn't say anything about this.

"Funny thing is, you were officially declared dead, three years ago," Ethan said, and looked over to the brunette dressed in black. "Nice shoes, by the way," Ethan said to her.

The brunette looked curiously at Vinter's shoes, but Ethan shook his head. "Not his, yours."

The brunette smiled.

Vinter took out a small hammer and set it on the table.

" _Our instructions were to not to kill him,"_ the brunette said as she walked over to the table, while Vinter walked over to Ethan, stomping onto Carolyn's stomach. She widened her eyes in shock and coughed as the pain reeled through her body.

" _Some guys break differently than others_ ," Vinter said, and threw a couple punches at him as Ethan bared his teeth together reeling in the physical and emotional pain that Carolyn had gotten hurt. "This one's a fighter. He'll die before we turn him in."

"Are you worried he's going to take your place?" the brunette asked.

Carolyn breathed in and out as she listened to their conversation, trying to blink out the lingering pain in her body. If Vinter was going to torture her and Ethan, there was no way she was going to survive this. And this woman? She knew her, and she didn't like her one bit.

He threw several punches in Ethan's gut that echoed throughout the closed door, as the guards stepped close, slightly cautious of Vinter's dark methods. Carolyn screamed for him to stop, but Vinter kept going.

The brunette took the key from the table and curled it into the palm of her hand, hiding it from the others.

Vinter indeed stopped, and turned to the young woman on the ground that was annoying him with her screams. He smiled and took her chin within his hand, smiling into her eyes. She looked at him back warily.

"You don't have to anything to her," Ethan said. "Your quarrel is with me. If anything, let her go. She's innocent."

"He's right," The brunette said. "She's just a civilian after all."

"But now she knows about us, so therefore I can't let her go," Vinter said and shoved her back down on the ground. "Her time will come, I promise."

Carolyn felt the harsh cool cement smack against her cheek as he shoved her back down, and shook with fear.

Damn it, Ethan thought. He had to get her out of here. At least he could try to get the brunette out of here.

"You should go," Ethan said softly. "Before it gets ugly."

"Yeah, he's right,"

"In that case, you should probably kill her now," Ethan said, motioning a quick nod to Carolyn. "Nice and easy."

Carolyn widened her eyes at Ethan as if he was crazy. What?!

"Hmm," Vinter said. He turned to the brunette. "Yeah, he's right. You should go, and I think I will kill her now, just to let his guilt seep into his system while it still hurts."

Ethan gulped, but watched the brunette carefully. It looked like the brunette was about to leave, but she stood in front of Carolyn and Ethan. She lowered the key in the palm of her hands, and Ethan looked at her with surprise eyes as Vinter picked up a large cutting knife from his tool box.

" _So, now, let's see how tough you are,_ " Vinter said as he walked over to Carolyn. He picked her up by the throat in one swift movement. She tried to scramble away from him, but it was no use. He was too strong.

He brought the knife to her neck, and she looked at Ethan worriedly. She eyed him curiously as to what he was going to do and how he was going to get out of this.

"Vinter," the brunette said. "Janick."

Vinter turned to face the brunette, and Carolyn took the moment to bite into Vinter's arms, allowing her to escape from his grasp. Ethan then raised his legs and kicked Vinter across the room before Vinter could do anything else. The knife fell to the floor.

One of the men ran over to him and crouched down beside the fallen Vinter. While the men were concerned with their leader, the brunette tossed the keys to Ethan's hand and he caught them.

Carolyn stepped backwards as the men advanced on the brunette, while Ethan frantically tried to escape his shackles. She looked over at him, and used her time to try to take out her wrists from her own restraints that bit into her skin.

One of the men charged after the brunette, who backed away quickly toward the table. She reached for the mini hammer and whacked him in the face that caused him to double backwards. She threw the hammer toward the other guy beside her before he could get to her, and another guy jumped up after her, but she was too quick to dodge his attack. She whirled around and wrapped her legs around his neck, knocking him out effectively, as she and the man fell onto the floor.

"Watch out!" Carolyn gasped, as the brunette heard Carolyn's cries and she body slammed against the guy who tried to take her down, but she whirled around and threw her elbow in his face, knocking him out.

One of the other men attacked her from the side and kicked her in the stomach. She fell over, crying out, and he pulled her hair, dragging her away from his fellow men.

Carolyn frantically tried to get herself out of the barbed wire, as Ethan watched worriedly from his tight shackles.

"Ethan!" Carolyn cried, motioning a quick nod over to the brunette as she tried to get out of her awkward position on the floor. Ethan looked over at Carolyn and decided to use his strength to get off from the pole. He climbed up and flipped himself over, landing on his two feet, and flew into the other guy that was trying to beat the brunette to death. Ethan elbowed him hard, while the brunette got up and threw a mean round-house kick against her attacker. He fell backwards back onto the floor in a heavy heap, and before the other guy in the brown leather jacket could get to her, she got up and pushed him backwards with all of her might.

Ethan used the key to try to get out of his feet's shackles. "Get the knife!" Ethan ordered Carolyn.

Carolyn looked over to the knife set on the table and weaved her way in and out of the fallen men on the ground. She turned around and reached for the knife with her hands, allowing the knife to cut her out of her restraints.

Ethan kicked one of the men across the face before he tried to get up. The guy that had gotten hurt by the woman's hammer got up from his fall earlier and went to attack the brunette. He smacked her hard across the face that caused her to fall on the ground. Ethan jumped up in the air and kicked him down, which caused him to fall down on his back, lying his head on top of the brunette's stomach.

"Hi," she said breathlessly. He looked up at her in shock, until one of the men was up again. Ethan ran after him and punched him several times in different areas of the body. The brunette got up from the floor and looked over at Carolyn to make sure she was okay. Ethan wrapped his own restraints around the guy's neck, and Carolyn pointed at the keys on the ground. The brunette grabbed them and kicked the man in the stomach so that he would loose his composure. She unshackled Ethan's restraints and with her leg, Ethan ducked, she whirled herself on top of the guy so that she could squeeze him out unconscious effectively on the ground with her legs. She whirled around and landed on her knees and hands as she watched worriedly at Ethan's attempt to try and keep the guy down. She ran forward and kicked him down on the ground out cold.

Carolyn was in pure shock, blinking at the two.

"We've never met before, right?" Ethan asked.

Carolyn heard the door knock behind her. "I don't think now's a really good time for explanations, Ethan," she said.

"She's right," the brunette said, staring at Carolyn with curiosity. She looked at Ethan and Carolyn. "Follow me," she said.

Carolyn gave Ethan a questionable look whether or not to trust her, but right now they needed to run for she didn't fancy getting tortured by the Bone Doctor.

Carolyn watched the brunette grab Ethan's clothes off the table, and Carolyn grabbed her pea coat and purse as well before they ran through the dark corridor that would eventually lead them to escape.

The brunette handed Ethan his clothes, as Ethan and Carolyn ran passed her and out of the corridor into the alley way. She closed the gate, locking herself in. Carolyn looked at her completely flabbergasted.

"What are you doing?" Ethan asked.

" I can't leave," she said.

"You can't stay," Ethan said, holding onto the bars. "We just killed those men."

"We didn't, _you_ did. I tried to stop you. You and the civilian got away," she said, glancing at Carolyn who hugged her pea coat in her arms, watching with a sympathetic look in her eyes.

"Who are you?" Ethan asked, taking in her words to heart.

"You better hurry now," she said in a mere whisper. "Good luck," she said and turned to run back through the corridor.

"No wait, wait!" Ethan said, pulling on the bars, trying to get them open.

"Ethan," Carolyn said, bringing him back to reality, as she touched his arm gently.

"But I have to-"

"No," Carolyn said, shaking her head. She looked at him with scared eyes. "I need you. We have to go."

"Where are they?!"

Carolyn's face turned worried, and Ethan looked at her scared eyes. She did need him.

" _They've headed toward the north passage. They've closed the gate!_ " she cried in the same different language Carolyn heard her speak before.

"We gotta go, Ethan," Carolyn said. "Please."

" _Run! They're getting away! HURRY!_ "

Ethan looked over at her and into her fearful eyes. Suddenly the Bone Doctor appeared out from the shadows that made Carolyn gasp. She hid behind Ethan as he started shooting at them.

"Come on!" Ethan said, and grabbed Carolyn's arm. He pushed her in front of her and protected her from the bullets as they ran as fast as they could. She strung her purse over her shoulder and together they ran down the corridor, dodging bullets in a zigzag motion, trying to escape the firefight.

~*MI*~

Carolyn and Ethan made their way into London's busy city, and found themselves in a red phone booth. "Who are you calling?" she asked in a frantic whisper, as she hugged herself to keep warm from the cold. She had put her white pea coat on but that wasn't really helping the situation any better.

"I'm calling for immediate evac," Ethan said.

Carolyn's eyes widened in horror. "You're calling Agent Brandt."

"Yes," Ethan said. "You're too involved. I need to send you home."

Carolyn shook her head, and widened her eyes as a thought came to her mind. "No. No, I can go to Paris; no one will find me there. Ethan, I don't need you to protect me all the time," she said, stomping her foot on the ground like a seven-year-old.

That made him stop in his trek.

"We have to split up," she said.

Ethan turned around, and breathed heavily at her. He too had put on his coat, but he was hugging himself as well, though Carolyn wasn't sure why.

"What?" Ethan asked.

"You _heard_ me," she said. "We split up. It's the only way to get them off our scent, right?"

Ethan grimaced. "We're not splitting up in the technical way that you're thinking. It's time for you to go home. I promise I won't mention you're here, if that makes you feel any better. It's just too dangerous right now."

Carolyn sighed, but she nodded. "Might make him more stressed out than he needs to be anyway," she said quietly as she followed Ethan.

"My thoughts exactly," Ethan said. He walked into the phone booth, while Carolyn followed, but she stayed outside, keeping a lookout for Viktor and his men thinking she could shout anything out if they were followed. He dialed the number.

"Stat comm seven," the operator said.

"Western Europe, line secured," Ethan said.

"Designator," the operator said.

"Bravo, echo 11," Ethan replied.

"Connecting," The operator said.

" _This is Brandt,"_ Brandt answered, seated on the bench back in Washington D.C.

"Go secure," Ethan said.

Brandt looked over at Hunley who was finishing up his chat with Carolyn in the corner of the Senate room. He looked at his phone and encrypted it to a secure line.

"Go," Brandt said, placing his cell phone to his ear.

" _London terminal is compromised_ ," Ethan said. " _I repeat, London is compromised_."

"Agent in place is down," Ethan said, glancing at Carolyn who tugged on her lip worriedly. She glanced inside the phone booth as Ethan spoke to Brandt. "Requesting immediate extraction."

"What happened _?"_ Brandt asked over the phone. "Who beats London? Do you have anything to go on?" Brandt asked, keeping an eye on Carolyn as she nodded at whatever Hunley and the Chairman was saying to her. He focused on the call to Ethan's worried voice on the other line.

Ethan closed his eyes as if he was remembering. "A face. He wanted something. That information. He could've killed me, but he didn't."

"Okay," Brandt said, holding the phone to his ear as he spoke to Ethan on the other secured line. "What do you think it means?"

"The Syndicate is real," Ethan said, gripping tight onto the black phone in his hand. "They know who we are, and how we operate. I think I know why. They've been so hard to find. It's just…"

Carolyn turned her face to stare at the window of the phone booth as she heard Ethan's voice echoing through the window. Her heart started to pound.

"Focus on operations on getting any available Intel regarding former covert operatives. It doesn't matter what country or agency, just as long as they're dead or presumed dead. Start with Janik Viktor. He's also known as the Bone Doctor, and he almost…" Ethan winced.

Inside the lobby of the Senate room, Brandt turned slightly at the information that Ethan was feeding to him over the line and swallowed hard. "He almost what?" Brandt asked.

Carolyn shook her head toward Ethan, placing her hand on the cool glass window. Ethan looked at her and into her eyes and his heart pained and twisted.

"Brandt," Ethan said. "Just tell me that you can get this information!'

"I can't do that," Brandt said, cringing.

" _What?_ " Ethan asked. " _What are you talking about?_ "

"The Committee has shut us down," Brandt said, turning his head away from Hunley, the Chairman, and Carolyn. "Operations are being handed over to the CIA. There's no more IMF. I've been ordered to bring everyone in. Ethan…"

"I understand," Ethan said.

" _Ethan-_ "

"I understand, Brandt," Ethan said again before Brandt could utter what he was trying to say over the phone. "We didn't have this conversation. I've disappeared in London. You don't know where I am. If I'm dead or alive…"

" _This man you saw_ ," Brandt said. " _Can you find him?_ "

"I won't stop until I do," Ethan said defiantly.

" _This may very well be our last mission, Ethan_ ," Brandt said. " _Make it count_."

"So?" Carolyn asked. She pulled the door of the phone booth wide open. "What did he say?"

"Looks like we're splitting up," Ethan said, staggering out of the phone booth. He took his palm away to hold himself against the phone booth.

Carolyn widened her eyes. He was bleeding. "No, we're not. That wound looks very, very painful. We're going to fix that. Come on," she said. "I know just the thing."

She took him by the arm. "When did you learn to be a nurse?" he asked.

She smiled at him. "I didn't know what I wanted to be when I was growing up, so I took courses of many interests. Nursing being one of them. I tried the program…"

"But," Ethan looked at her. She would have sat him down by the bench but she was worried about getting caught.

"But, I found other interests," she said with a simple shrug. He looked at her as if he didn't believe her. She rolled her eyes and looked frantically behind her. "Let's go. We can't stay in one place too long now can we?"

Ethan was about to walk forward, but he stopped. "Ethan?" she asked.

Ethan sighed. "There's still one thing I don't get. How badly did he affect you?"

Carolyn frowned, feeling frozen on the spot. "What do you mean?"

"Why were you in Minsk?" he asked.

She looked at him with shocked eyes, shining underneath the lamp posts. Minsk? "Minsk?" she asked in a small whisper.

"Yeah," Ethan said. "Minsk, Belarus. My team saved your life. Again."

She gulped, and swallowed hard, taking a deep breath. "I'll tell you," she said slowly, exhaling. "But only if you let me help you heal that wound, Agent Hunt," she said.

Ethan studied her for a brief moment. "It wasn't in your file," he said.

Carolyn raised an eyebrow at him, taken aback by that. "You checked up on me," she said impressively.

Ethan tilted his head to the side. "Only once," he said.

"I'm a private person, Ethan. I do like to keep things to myself. What you don't know about me can fill a book."

Ethan looked her up and down before his smile turned into a smirk. "Lead the way," he said finally, allowing her to take care of him.

Carolyn nodded, and together they went to find a safe house.


	8. Chapter 7: Welcome to the CIA

**A/n: New chapter! Happy reading!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am just writing for fun and not for profit. I own my OC.**

 **~*O*~**

 **Chapter 7: Welcome to the CIA**

 **Still Washington D.C...**

Carolyn let out a deep sigh. She already didn't like Agent Hunley, the director of the CIA, the very same one that Benji warned her about when the IMF swooped in and saved her life without meaning to of course, but she was very grateful for their impeccable rescue. Maybe the Senate Committee was right and that the IMF did work on mostly luck…

She had no choice but to comply with Hunley's wishes. He was going to take her on board as a consultant of sorts to the CIA. She didn't want to stay in a safe house by herself, and she didn't want to go back home with two armed CIA agents at her door in Seattle, WA. That was not living in Carolyn's eyes. So, she and Hunley made a deal to work together in Langley, VA. Hunley would make hotel arrangements for Carolyn to stay in during her time of duration. It would be a big help if she could open up to him and just tell him where Ethan Hunt was, but she was nervous for his well-being, and she didn't exactly trust Hunley right now, especially if he was the one who worked onto shutting down the IMF.

She hugged her new white pea-coat underneath her arms against her chest as she walked over to Brandt in the middle of the lobby area. She stood beside Hunley and licked her lips nervously, as she made the mistake of looking into Brandt's concerned blue eyes. She immediately looked to the floor, fidgeting slightly underneath his gaze.

"I'm glad your girl could come to her senses, Agent Brandt," Hunley remarked with a proud gleam in his light ocean blue eyes. He definitely towered over Brandt just a little bit. Brandt's eyes danced over to Carolyn who still had her head down. "Since all three of us are going to be working together-"

"I'm sorry, all _three_ of us?" Brandt asked, tilting his head to the side toward her.

"She will be my consultant. Apparently she does have some tiny bit of Intel that she's not letting on, and I'm betting that's where the polygraph found our glitch," Hunley said. "It would behoove her to work with us," Hunley said, glancing at her sideways.

"It would be _hoove_ her?" Brandt said.

Carolyn's shoulders slumped forward, and she forced herself to look up into Brandt's curious eyes on her. She didn't want to see his face so crest-fallen and heart broken that Hunley had gotten to her, but Hunley had a lot on her and she really had no choice but to work with the CIA. She just didn't know what she was going to do, especially since Hunley had more questions for her.

"I want you to choose your next words wisely, Brandt," Hunley said. "Where is Hunt?"

"I don't know," Brandt shook his head.

Carolyn slightly widened her eyes.

"Don't lie to me, Brandt," Hunley said in a deep voice.

Carolyn gulped, and shook her head, "Brandt…" she whispered. "Don't."

"Didn't realize you were working with the CIA, now," Brandt clipped in a tone of voice that Carolyn knew too well what he was getting at.

"Kind of don't have a choice, now do I, _Agent Brandt_?" Carolyn snapped, sending him a glare from underneath her eyelashes.

Hunley watched their little exchange and a smile appeared on his face. "I wonder how close you two worked together on that last mission…"

Brandt and Carolyn looked at each other slightly, and Carolyn cleared her throat, hugging herself for warmth.

"I have no way of contacting him," Brandt continued after a moment of heated and awkward silence that slipped in between the three of them. Carolyn fidgeted her feet against the floor nervously. Brandt turned his head to face Hunley. "Last I heard he was tracking the Syndicate," Brandt replied.

"Let's cut the bull," Hunley said.

"Actually," Carolyn cut in between them, pointing her finger in the air to get Hunley's attention. He turned to face his new consultant. "That's true. He told me that before he took off."

Hunley's eyes slanted dangerously sideways at her.

She closed her lips shut and glanced down at the floor again.

"You know who we are," Hunley said, turning toward Brandt. "And what we're capable of. How come the CIA has never discovered any actual Intel regarding this uh…Syndicate?"

"What are you implying?" Brandt asked.

"Not implying, stating," Hunley replied. "Leveling an accusation actually."

Carolyn looked up at Hunley's words as they echoed inside the lobby area. What in the hell was he trying to say?

"Hunt is both arsonist and fireman at the same time," Hunley continued. "I believe that the Syndicate is a figment of his imagination created to justify the IMF's existence. I'm going to find him, Brandt, and when I do, he will be called upon to answer for every want and act of mayhem he is responsible for."

"That _every_ act of mayhem saved my life and countless of other people in the world," Carolyn said in a low and dangerous voice.

Hunley turned to face her, and sent her a smile that sent chills down Carolyn's spine. She shivered uncontrollably.

"Be careful with that tone of yours, Miss Mason," Hunley said. "Or shall I say, _Ms._ Blair?"

Brandt tilted his head curiously at her and his mouth dropped slightly open at those shocking words out of Hunley's lips. What did he mean by that? What did Hunley have on Carolyn that she wasn't telling him straight up?

Carolyn glared at him, tightening her fists underneath her folded arms until she felt her knuckles turn white. "You _promised_."

He smiled at Carolyn and then at Brandt. "Welcome to the CIA."

Carolyn looked down at the floor, feeling every ounce of emotion wash through her like a tidal wave. Her world was crashing all around her and she didn't know how to stop it this time.

Hunley turned to walk away, but Brandt suddenly spoke up, "You'll never find him," he said confidently.

"Set your watch, Brandt," Hunley said, turning to face him, "Ethan Hunt is living his last day as a free man. I expect you two to be in Langley, Monday morning, eight A.M. sharp."

Hunley walked away, leaving Brandt and Carolyn alone in the middle of the lobby area.

She let out a long sigh as if she'd been holding it in the entire time. She may as well have been after all Hunley just destroyed her life.

"The glitch was in my name," Carolyn began. "Cause who really lies about their names on the polygraph, right? It wasn't really a lie per say, considering the circumstances."

"Circumstances?" Brandt asked finally, just to keep the silence from getting to them because he knew it would.

"My hus-" she cringed, and corrected herself. "My fiancé is CIA, Brandt," she said slowly.

Brandt tightened his jaw, and tightened his fists by his side to keep his anger boiled inside of him. "Yeah, I got that. And?"

"And he went missing about a year ago, officially declared dead by Hunley."

Brandt sighed. "So, who is he?"

Carolyn chewed her bottom lip and began to explain herself. "He's my fiancé, Charlie Blair, Central Intelligence. Hunley called me Ms. Blair because we were almost going to wed before he caught us," she let out a sigh. "I met him on vacation in Jamaica. We hit it off. I didn't know he was CIA. He never told me until we ran into some not so friendly folks left behind from his last assignment, but as you can see I'm still here!" she beamed at him, but Brandt wasn't feeling it right now. She cleared her throat and moved on to her story. "So, we fell in love about a month later, he asked me to marry him and I said yes. We've been engaged ever since, almost set to marry and run away from the CIA, but... like I said, Hunley found out, didn't like that I was taking one of his best men off his team, so he separated us, moved me to Seattle, promising Charlie that I was safe from anything and anyone. I took a job as a cocktail waitress just to make ends meet," she said. "There once was a time when Hunley thought he went rogue and went dark, leaving Hunley behind. Hunley told me he was dead. I believed him, and I never saw him again," she said softly.

"Until now," Brandt said softly.

Carolyn looked at him with a pained look on her face. "I'm so, _so_ sorry, Brandt, I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't…"

"Thought you'd never been intimate with a man before," Brandt said softly, still trying to reel in this information that was running around in circles in his head.

Carolyn winced. "I've never been _truly_ intimate…and we were going to, but Charlie," she said slowly, chocking back her pained feelings. She _did_ love Brandt. That's why she was so shocked because she couldn't believe she'd ever fall in love again. And she would always love Brandt. But when Hunley came back into her life suddenly and threatened to keep Charlie undercover forever, she had to stop him. She did know where Ethan Hunt was and she was going to tell Hunley for the sake of keeping her fiancé safe. She struggled to explain this part of her life so much, as she watched Brandt's face turned into the utmost painful expression she could ever see on such a man. It was like loosing someone you loved, and that made Carolyn hurt even more.

She swallowed back a sob, trying to bury her feelings down. "He promised he'd wait, and I would wait too, 'till he got back from his assignment to make our couple status official, with a real wedding, real honeymoon because he knew I liked old fashioned and corny," she smiled at the memory of them talking about it one night. "But that was such a long time ago. I truly began to feel like he was just a faded memory. It…it was bad, Brandt," she whispered. "There were days and days where I wouldn't get out of bed…and I'd struggle just to wake up in the morning. I didn't know where he was until Hunley finally gave me closure…"

"But closure wasn't enough, was it?" Brandt asked in a hollowed voice.

She shook her head. "Nope. I still didn't care. I continued to work that dirty cocktail waitress graveyard shift at night, and slept during the day, not caring who I smiled for, or who I talked to. I almost let that rich asshole take me, but that's when I snapped. I was tired of being stepped on, tired of…living in a world full of assholes because they weren't him. Eventually, I found therapy. They sent me to Moscow, a place I've always wanted to go because the architecture was so beautiful, I really had considered it art, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that something was off..." she said softly.

"And that's why you can't sleep?" Brandt said, trying to make sense of all of this.

Carolyn nodded again. She could feel her eyes water and tear up. "I imagined so many different scenarios in how they got him dead. I had nightmares night after night, imagining different ways of torture, and death. I tried to move on. I thought traveling the world might be the answer to every stressful event that's occurred in my life…" she said. She let out a sigh and pushed her tears away with the soft pads of her thumbs, and swallowed hard, trying to find her voice again. She licked her lips.

"Look," she said after a moment of silence that had found its way back between them. "Hunley likes to push people's buttons," she said. "That's how he operates. And that's why I agreed to sign on so I can help you work through this, and for Ethan's sake. I don't want him to end up like Charlie."

"That's…" Brandt swallowed hard. "Understandable. So…" he said softly. "I shouldn't have kissed you then. It was a mistake."

Carolyn felt her face fall, and her heart drop. She didn't think the kiss was a mistake, just the exact opposite. Brandt brought her back to life. She thought Charlie was gone forever and he may as well have been with Hunley's declaration. She worked hard on trying to forget that moment.

"No," she said, stepping closer toward him. " _No._ You brought me back to life, Brandt. You made life worth living for me again," she said, trying not to sob.

Brandt drew in a deep breath and let it out. "If there's a chance to save Charlie now, would you take it?"

"I suppose…" she gulped, but after she'd thought about it. She did want to find him. She wanted him back, even if she did still love Brandt, he didn't really know how she felt. She never told him, and she wasn't sure if she was ever going to tell him. She supposed it was better this way. After all, being with an IMF agent was almost like being in immediate danger all the time. At least it was less so with the CIA, and she could be with someone who wasn't always in the field, all the time. She knew Charlie liked being back at home in Langley, VA. "Yes."

"Alright," he sighed, leaning his head back and ran a nervous hand on the back of his neck. "I think we can work together."

Carolyn pursed her lips to the side, glancing at him curiously, wondering what Brandt was thinking in that head of his. "Okay," she said. "Shoot."

"You help me try to keep Hunley's men off of Ethan, I'll help you try to find Charlie," Brandt said. "Deal?" he asked, offering a handshake.

Carolyn walked over to him and released her hand out of her arms so she could shake his hand, but then stopped when a thought occurred to her. Brandt was probably going to try to keep her safe and locked away in the CIA building, and she wasn't about to let that happen to her. She wasn't a wallflower anymore. " _Only_ if I get to go with them."

Brandt raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

She smiled. "If we're going to make this work, I'm going with the team to find him."

"I don't think…" Brandt began but she cut him off.

"Brandt, this is my _fiancé_ of whom I thought was gone for almost a year. I want to run into his arms when we find him, and spin around like they do in the movies, and kiss him until my little heart's content. Is that okay with you?" she demanded hotly, hands on her hips with her jacket slung in between the hook of her arm.

Well, Brandt thought, glancing at her curiously. He wasn't going to argue with that. "Okay, but on _my_ terms." he said firmly. He was going to let her go, but she had to listen to him because he certainly wasn't going to let her out of his sight.

Carolyn twisted her lips to the side at this, eyeing him up and down with curiosity.

He glanced up at her up and down before he made the final decision and together they shook on it, both of them staring into each other's eyes, not missing the tingling sensations that ran up each other's arms.

 **~*O*~**

 **A/n: So, don't freak out! I** ** _definitely_** **have a plan with this, don't worry you guys! I had to think of** _ **something**_ **for the six month time span! :P Hope you liked!**


	9. Chapter 8: 3 Months Later Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I just own my OC. I am writing for fun, and not for profit.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 8: 3 Months Later Part 1**

 **Somewhere in Southern Brazil ~**

 **3 Months Later**

Just like Brandt promised, Carolyn was leading a team of six agents behind her, searching the Brazilian hills that stretched for miles and miles with white houses piled up on top of each other. She was about to give up in the search for her fiancé, until they finally caught a break in Brazil. Hunley hadn't exactly told her where he was, but she and Benji were working together to keep Benji from snapping about Ethan and Hunley's interrogation sessions every day at the same time in the afternoon.

Benji was a bit shocked by the news about her fiancé, but if it meant finding him alive and feeling happy like she used to be, she would do it. He asked her about Brandt and what this was going to do to their current position. Benji knew love when he saw it. He'd told her countless times that Brandt was the kind of guy you wait for, and then grab him when the connection feels right. He thought for sure there was a connection between Brandt and Carolyn, but evidentially he had it wrong. He was secretly hoping that the guy was either a ghost or dead… Benji chuckled at the thought just for the sake of him wanting to get Carolyn and Brandt together, but no, that would be even more wrong.

He could see Carolyn's distraught and how she was caught in the middle. She loved Charlie, and she loved Brandt too. He'd do whatever made her happy because she deserved to be happy in life even if that meant finding this guy in Brazil, which is where he found him, and that's where she was now.

"Okay boys," Carolyn said, glancing behind her after walking a flight of stairs that led them to a small apartment building that could be the size of a bedroom. The sun hid behind a set of clouds that began to cloud the blue skies around Brazil's beautiful mountains. It was another place she'd like to visit, and she'd hoped once she found Charlie that maybe they can spend a little time here and hang out by the waters, if they were lucky… Hunley hadn't found out about this little operation yet, and she wasn't sure how much time she had with Charlie, if they ever found him.

She drew in a deep breath. "I think this is it this time. I'm almost positive," she said, trying to smile and be brave for the team.

Brimstone looked down at her, sending her a smile. "I hope for all of our sakes."

Carolyn was so nervous; she almost pulled a thread from her jean's jacket she'd worn over her white knee-length dress that flowed around her when she walked on her sandals that matched. She did her hair, letting her wavy curls loose around her shoulders, and she wore the heart necklace he'd given to her before they were going to marry.

"Hey Brandt?" she asked, knowing that Brandt was back in Langley, VA, watching the scene unfold before his own eyes as he stood in the main control room.

" _Yeah?_ " he asked, pressing the button on the control panel when he talked.

"Thank you, for doing this," she said sincerely.

" _We haven't found him yet_ ," Brandt said.

Carolyn nodded, and lifted a strand of hair behind her ears as the men crept closer toward the closed door. She could definitely hear breathing from the other end of the door, and movement.

Hearing movement and breathing on the other end of the door was a good sign, but she heard something a little more that made her heart twist. She hoped he wasn't being tortured! Carolyn couldn't bear the thought of Charlie, who was so tall; handsome, blonde hair, green eyes…killer body, she couldn't bear to see him in such an awful state.

She glanced at Brimstone and gave him a nod before he kicked the door open, leading his team inside the room, shouting for everyone to put their hands up in the air in case they were busting drug cartel or something of that nature. Carolyn heard stories. Carolyn had stayed back until silence filtered around the room.

" _Carolyn, I wouldn't…_ " Brandt said, his voice echoing inside her earpiece she wore in her right ear.

"Why? It can't be that bad…I'm a big girl. I can handle blo-" Carolyn stopped dead in her treks inside the middle of the bare room with just a bed in the middle. A candle was lit on the side of the inn table.

She stared at him. Charlie Blair. There he was, alive, not tortured like she thought he'd been.

He was perfectly fine, in bed, with another woman, who was _beautiful_. Dark thick waves of hair curled around her shoulders, and she looked so scared in those big brown eyes that Carolyn wasn't even sure what to do or say for her _own_ shockness that was riding in her soul right now.

She stared into his shocked green eyes, feeling her heart beating so fast, she could hardly contain herself.

"Carolyn?" Charlie asked, breaking the silence. "This, um, this…isn't what it looks like…" he ran a shaky hand over his blonde messy hair. Strands of hair stuck up in different directions. He looked over at the woman he was with, who looked at Carolyn and Charlie curiously.

Brandt's staff members in the Langley, VA office winced and oohed as if those were the wrong words to say when someone caught someone else in bed with that said person.

"Well, actually," Charlie corrected himself. "It is…but I can assure you she doesn't mean a thing-"

" _Excuse_ me?" the Spanish beauty asked.

Carolyn shot an icy glare at the woman and the woman backed away a bit. She turned back to Charlie for an explanation, not that she really needed one.

"Kay, never mind, she does mean something-" Charlie stammered. He hadn't expected to get caught like this at all. How in the heck was she working with the CIA now?

"You told me you loved me last night!" she said in pure shock.

"Uhhh…" Charlie said, fighting for the right words to say. He glanced at her with nervous eyes. He ran a hand over his stubble chin.

"You did _what?!"_ Carolyn said. Oh, now she was fuming. She walked over to him, while the team of CIA agents stood there frozen, unsure of what to do or how to really conquer this situation before them because they half-expected one of their own to be close to dead. "Did you know that _I_ am his _fiancé_ of _a year_? Yeah," she said to the woman who blinked. "One whole year! We were supposed to get married once he got back from his undercover assignment!"

"She's not supposed to know-" Charlie began, pointing his finger at her but she glared back at him.

"I don't care!" Carolyn said. She growled and shouted angrily at him, while she ripped off his heart necklace at him and tossed it at his head. He ducked and it shattered onto the wooden floor planks beneath the bed.

She took out her engagement ring out from her jean's jacket pocket and tossed it at him as well, that landed in the sheets of the bed.

"Babe, wait…" Charlie scrambled out of the covers, and struggled to put his pants on.

Carolyn spun around, raising a closed fist and pointed a finger at him. "I am not your babe, and you _know_ I hate being called that."

"One of the reasons why I disappeared," Charlie said, zipping up his pants frantically, and trying not to fall over. "Hold on for me doll, yes?" he asked the brunette in his bed, and kissed her. She kissed him back, settling down in the covers.

"What?" Carolyn asked.

"You're _so_ insane, Carolyn! I was _afraid_ to get back to you," Charlie said.

Carolyn let out a bitter growl and felt like she wanted to tear the whole room apart, but she didn't.

"Afraid?" Carolyn asked. "You're a CIA agent and you're _afraid_?"

"She really doesn't get the whole 'this one's not supposed to know who this guy really is right'?" Brimstone asked his guys.

"Of you, you crazy psycho," Charlie said.

"You know what, Charlie?" she tried to find the right comeback words but nothing was coming to mind. She was loosing the energy and the will to fight with Charlie because she'd just had enough.

She just walked up to the team of agents who'd lowered their weapons slightly and she stopped at Brimstone with a defiant look on her face. "You have my permission to shoot him," she said and walked out, down the stairs that led to the streets below.

" _Uh, Langley Brimstone_ ," Brandt said over the team's headsets, pressing the button on the control panel in front of him. " _You do not have permission to shoot him_."

"I would have shot him," one of his staff members said, holding a file to Brandt. Brandt smirked slightly at his staff member, as he grabbed the file from her hands and turned to face the screens in front of him.

"Carolyn, wait, you're going the wrong way," Charlie said. "The city is that way," he pointed in the other direction.

Carolyn stood in the middle of the road and spun around, feeling like she was stuck in a circle.

She looked at him and sighed. She brushed her hands over her face, and stared at him as he stood over her. He tried to stop her from going crazy, but she was too emotional right now.

"Charlie…" she said. "I thought…do you have any idea what I went through? I went to therapy for you."

"You need it," Charlie said with a slight chuckle.

Carolyn did not think that was funny. She glared at him. "I spent days in bed-"

"Alone," he said.

She glared. " _Besides_ the point! I thought you were going to wait. I thought-"

"Well, Carolyn, men have certain needs. And, men need certain women who can satisfy those needs, and…you don't exactly qualify…" Charlie said with a slight cringe.

Carolyn felt her heart drop. "You're saying I don't have enough experience?!"

Charlie nodded.

"You jerk!" she cried, flailing her hands in the air. "You don't care about me. You never have, have you? That's why you wanted the speedy wedding so that we could make love together!"

"It seemed perfect at the time, and Jamaica well, Jamaica was the perfect place to wed, have sex, and dump you so I can move on with my next assignment. I hated watching over you, making sure you were okay. I did love you for a brief moment and I did want to marry you, but you just… you're…difficult to handle at times…you made me so…anxious when we were running from those men… but you were so pretty, and cute, gorgeous. You really seemed like you'd be a fun person in bed to share time with, until you started talking and opening your mouth…you're so moody, and scared! How does one like you even _stay_ a virgin? You are such a scardy-cat, it's insane! You gotta get with the times, little lady! It's the twenty-first century, not the nineteenth century!"

Carolyn fought every urge of her not to slap him, but she walked right up to him, stood up on her tip-toes and slapped him hard across the face.

"I waited for you," Carolyn said in a low and angry growl. "I had nightmares about you. I thought you were dead. And then when you resurfaced, I found hope. I asked Brandt to help me find you,"

~*MI*~

" _Oh don't bring me into this,_ " Brandt muttered inside CIA headquarters as he watched with worried eyes.

"Don't bring you into what?" Hunley asked, coming up behind him. Brandt froze in his spot. His staff members looked up at Hunley and they grew quiet, going back to work.

~*MI*~

"Brandt?" Charlie asked. "Who's Brandt?"

"Just a friend," she shrugged. "A friend who's been more than a friend to me in a really long time. I'll never trade him for anything. Not for you or any of this…I'm done waiting."

"That's okay, I was done waiting two years ago," Charlie said truthfully.

Carolyn swallowed hard. "Hunley told me you were dead."

"Figured. You're so gullible Carolyn."

Carolyn swallowed hard. Maybe she was, but was that really her fault? She drew in a deep breath.

"Maybe I am, so what," she said with a shrug.

"That kind of gullibility is going to get you killed one day," he said. "And I won't be there to save you because you're not worth saving."

Carolyn's heart dropped even further if that were possible.

"I thought you were different," she said, trying not to cry because she could feel the tears threaten to spill out on her cheeks.

"Time changes people," Charlie said. "I'm sorry. I don't like you anymore."

Carolyn nodded, and she cleared her throat. "No, I get it. I know I'm not exactly the easiest person to be around…I _can_ be fun, but when you play with my heart, like you've done? That's when everything dies. So you pulled on that thread and unraveled a bitter heart, especially when I found this in your possession…you're last safe house, we found it last month in Port Royal, Jamaica." she said, pulling out a bag of cocaine from her jacket's pocket. She tossed it in front of him, and he caught it with a look of horror shadowing his face. "Enjoy prison, Mr. Blair."

Charlie looked up at the sounds of guns clicking in his ears and saw that the Brimstone team had followed her outside. She walked away, leaving the men to arrest him. Hunley was right. He was dead.

~*MI*~

Hunley gave the final nod to Brandt so they could arrest Charlie Blair.

" _Arrest him,"_ Brandt ordered over the team of agent's headsets.

Brandt turned to face Hunley and felt every fiber of his being twist in fear that Hunley had caught him in an unauthorized operation.

"She'll answer for this, Brandt," Hunley said, glaring at Brandt through his cool blue eyes. "You can be sure of that."

"She had-"

"Save it," Hunley said, rounding on Brandt. Brandt tightened his jaw and didn't back down when Hunley faced him. "For your polygraph test next week."

 **~*O*~**

 **A/n: In the name of Luther…. "Oh boy…" I'm not exactly sure if Brandt is also being questioned, I do know he's under a tight leash with Hunley, so he had to figure Carolyn's operation out at some point, especially since he has Carolyn on his leash too...so we'll see how this goes! Gulp! Hope I did okay! It was so hard to write that. I'm going on a bit of creative license here as to how procedures are and trying to be creative here, so hope you liked!**


	10. Chapter 9: 3 Months Later Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I just own my OC. I am writing for fun and not for profit.  
**

 **Chapter 9: 3 Months Later Part 2**

3 Months Later

Havana, Cuba

Ethan Hunt had been on the run from Hunley's team for six months. He was tracking the Syndicate and getting incredibly close. He'd used his time to work out, doing push-ups a cover that he'd been using whenever the CIA team got close. He knew someone would spill…half expecting it to be Carolyn. He was silently counting on it when he sent her home after their little rendezvous in London. He didn't want her anywhere near the Syndicate. The man who was leading the Syndicate was probably the worst of the worst and he couldn't bare to think of anything bad happening to her or anyone he cared about. So, they made the final decision to split up and leave, three months ago.

~*MI*~

CIA

Langley, VA

Agent William Brandt was a man of many things, but hunting down his friends wasn't one of them, and falling in love with a fiancé wasn't one of them either. Then again she never told him, and he never asked. She was just an innocent bystander who got caught wrong place, wrong time, on several occasions. She didn't exactly have the worst luck in the world, but finding Blair like that? She didn't deserve that either. While Brandt was relieved that Blair was a dirty cop, and a jerk, he didn't think it was fair, especially for how Blair treated her.

He drew in a sigh, as he waited for the take down moment of Ethan Hunt. They only got word of his whereabouts because Carolyn had to speak up and spill. It wasn't enough to hunt down Ethan Hunt, Hunley had to break Carolyn down too. Hunley broke her in the worst way possible. But as Carolyn had warned Brandt, that was how the man operated. It was the CIA, Brandt knew this. He knew it very well. He was just sad that he had to work with him, and worried for his friend's sake. At least he knew Carolyn was safe, doing whatever she was doing. They hadn't really spoken to each other about the Blair incident. He just didn't know how to talk to her after all this time. They still had to work together, but Carolyn had been quiet, and dead even. She didn't have that same hopeful face he liked to see on her. But Blair had turned out to be a real son of a bitch from the very beginning, so there was a possibility that maybe Carolyn didn't know what she was getting into and Brandt was willing to give her another chance, but how? How could they talk to each other now? After all that?

Benji was safe behind his computer probably playing Halo. And Brandt was…working with Hunley, tracking Ethan Hunt.

He was standing in the room when the monitor screen turned on. Hunley strode in the room, quickly changing the calm atmosphere to intensity. Everyone was on alert.

All feelings aside, Brandt had to use emotional work, a front he knew all too well, and put on a brave face to face this moment. He swallowed hard, and let out a deep breath.

"Alright, everybody, head's up! This is it!" Hunley called out to his team, as he strode across the control room to stand beside Brandt.

"Alpha, prep, standing by," The agent said on the intercom. Hunley looked up to the screen. "Execute."

"Langley Brimstone, standing by, we are ago. I say again, we are a go," one of the staff members announced.

Brandt watched the screen with worried eyes as he tried to maintain his emotions, watching Hunley's team walk up the stairs.

~MI~

Havana, Cuba

The team of CIA agents piled out of their cars parked next to a building. They were armed and ready, ready to take Ethan in. They crept forward, opening the gates, and walked up to the room where there was breathing heard on the other side of the door.

They broke into the door…

~MI~

Paris, France

Ethan dropped down on the floor and looked at his door, closed, and not broken into. He let out a few breaths as he walked over to his laptop, resting on the table where he could see Hunley's team entering his old hot spot, finding nothing but his trail of clues to lead Hunley to the Syndicate. He smiled as he looked outside, staring at the beautiful Eiffel Tower.

~MI~

Langley, VA

CIA Headquarters

"Langley? There's nobody here," the agent said. All they found was a phone with a camera that had the recording sound of Ethan's deep breaths on the other end of it, faking them out that he was working out that morning.

Brandt couldn't help but smile very subtly as he stood behind Hunley, watching the agents search through the small apartment building. It was indeed empty but he could see that Ethan had found something very interesting on the wall.

He pressed the button on the control panel and leaned forward, "Langley Brimstone, face the north wall."

The agent did as he was told and faced the north wall, a wall that contained a map of the world and pictures of different members on it.

Brandt squinted his eyes when the camera shined on the men that Ethan had found in particular and felt his jaw go slack. Son of a bitch. He thought, noticing that the one picture on the wall looked exactly like their old friend, Charlie Blair that was tacked to a million other agents on the wall that was ever so curious.

He looked at the newspaper clipping titles that Ethan had found.

Another Flight Vanishes: Where is Flight 606?

FIRE GUTS CHEMICAL

WEAPONS PLANT

Dozens missing, and feared dead

WORLD BANK

Declares Crisis

The leading agent turned to face the table where he found a strewn of several faces drawn, of a man and a woman, the woman drawn a couple times.

Brandt let out a sigh, and ran a hand over his neck. Shit, he thought. Ethan was onto something that's for damn sure. And he was betting that Benji was helping him.

~MI~

Langley, VA

CIA Headquarter's Tech Room

Benji Dunn sat in front of his huge computer, happily avoiding Hunley while Brandt was with him. Benji swore that those two should just get together but he had hope for Carolyn. He almost bought her a halo game to play halo with him, but she hasn't been answering his calls.

Benji didn't blame her. She was going through a rough time right now, and he only hoped she can pull herself out of this one.

He was on a role with the Halo game, but he saw one of his co-workers walk over to him down the hallway in a room full of computer monitors and everyone working in the background. He quickly tossed his controller in the drawer full of his video games, shut it closed, and he went back to a different screen on his computer.

The man didn't even stop as Benji typed on his keyboard, and dropped a few pieces of mail on Benji's desk. Benji watched him leave, and he looked at the mail with curious eyes.

He took the mail in his hands that read B. Dunn. He turned it over and opened it up that revealed two tickets to an Opera called the Turnabout in Vienna, Austria.

He opened up the pamphlet and smiled with pride. He let out a small chuckle unable to believe his luck, until his stupid bloody phone rang in his ears.

He made a face, and turned his chair to answer it, "Dunn?" he asked.

He winced and ran a hand over his face to release the ever growing tension in his body. "Is it that time already?" he asked. "Okay…" he fake smiled and placed the receiver back down.

He took out his gum and stuck it onto the CIA symbol on his phone screen before he headed down to the conference room where he would be taking his daily polygraph.

"I'm going to ask you a series of control questions," The woman said.

"I know, and I'm going to answer truthfully and then you're going to ask me to lie intentionally," Benji said as the woman walked over to sit in her chair beside Benji after she'd just finished hooking him up.

"State your name," she said.

"The King of Norway," Benji said. He looked at the screen as the lines jumped up in a hype. "See? That's a lie. I'm actually third in line to the throne. My brother was-" he cleared his throat as soon as he saw Hunley walking in the glass doorway.

Brandt stayed outside with his coffee in hand.

"Has Ethan Hunt contacted you?" Hunley demanded.

Benji rolled his eyes. "Why would Ethan contact me?"

"Hunt has resurfaced, thanks to your friend Carolyn," Hunley said. Benji looked over at Brandt through the glass wall. "This time in Cuba."

Brandt's eyes danced on Benji's face as he looked into his coffee cup and took a sip. He let out a sigh, and tried to keep his wits about him while Hunley questioned his friend.

Benji looked at Hunley in the eyes with that bit of news out of his lips. Well, he didn't blame her, for telling Hunley. He was a bit scary, and he knew that Carolyn couldn't keep it all in; the poor girl might shatter to pieces, no matter how much he had warned her.

Hunley pulled out a series of paper items from the evidence box that Benji saw on the table. "He, uh, left these behind," he dropped them on the surface of the conference table.

Benji leaned forward slightly and with his free hand, he pushed through the plastic of different newspaper clippings, the same ones his team found in the empty apartment back in Havana.

"Tell me what you make of them," Hunley said.

"I don't know," Benji said. "He's taking up scrap booking?" he asked with a small chuckle.

"Look at the photographs, Dunn. All of them are either missing or dead, every one," Hunley said.

"Blair's dead?" Benji asked, catching the glimpse of Carolyn's old beau in the photo.

"Found dead in prison, last week, yes," Hunley replied.

Benji looked at Brandt warily as he continued to look at the photographs that Hunley had laid out for him on the table.

"All of them were government agents wrapped in French, British, Israeli, you name it," Hunley continued. "These are highly classified files and Hunt had no trouble collecting them, and he always seems to be a step ahead of us. I wonder how," Hunley said, standing over Benji's shoulder.

"Are you suggesting _I'm_ _helping_ him?" Benji asked outrageously.

"Well, the thought had crossed my mind," Hunley said with a tilt nod of his head.

Brandt stared inside, waiting to see how Benji would react. It was surely the tipping point everyone was waiting for.

"Six months I've been sitting here sifting through mountains of meta-data, and exta-bites of codes and excrement. I have decrypted and processed more data than anyone in my section," Benji sad as his voice rose a little higher, stressing every last syllable as he spoke, while Hunley looked at the lines across the lap top screen. He listened to Benji's words spewing out of his mouth, "And yet, every week, you hold me in here and you ask me the same question! Just in a different way."

"And today," Hunley said slowly. "You haven't answered it." Hunley raised his eyebrows, and Benji looked at him with wide eyes.

He opened his mouth in shock, and looked almost hurt. "You seem to think I have some kind of obligation to him. Okay? Nothing can be further from the truth. Ethan Hunt is still out there in the field and I am stuck here, _answering_ for it," he paused, glaring at Hunley. "We are _not_ friends," Benji turned around to face the table. "I owe him nothing."

Hunley glanced at the laptop and saw the line had stayed consistent throughout Benji's explanation. The woman looked up with sad eyes at Hunley and she nodded, giving him the okay that Benji was indeed telling the truth.

"That'll be all, Dunn," Hunley said, and walked out of the room, taking Brandt with him.

Once Benji was free from the polygraph, he walked back to his part of the tech room, and slumped into his chair. He reached for his gum stuck to his phone screen and put it back into his mouth, chewing it up.

Maybe it was better this way and that Carolyn was safe and alone in her hotel room. But was that really a way to live? In fear for the world forever?

Benji didn't think so.

He took his receiver and dialed her number, but all he got was a dial tone and a voicemail. "This is Carolyn, leave a message!"

Benji sighed and slammed the receiver on the phone before he looked over at his winning tickets on his desk. It was so tempting.

He just couldn't believe his luck. He'd won tickets to see an actual play in a real city that was beautiful and worth the wait to see. Vienna, Austria! He had a couple tickets to see the Turnabout. He felt like he'd just won a million bucks because he felt like his work was finally paying off with the company, and he felt like he totally deserved it especially since he'd moved his station to work with the CIA. The IMF had been dismantled no thanks to Director Alan Hunley. No one liked him right now. And Brandt didn't have a choice but to work with him, along with their dear Miss Carolyn Mason, of whom was not currently present right now to share his wonderful winnings of two tickets to Vienna, Austria.

He was going to go. He deserved them. He was going to go and have a stress-free time and be back on Monday to bloody work answering stupid questions over and over again. He almost felt like he was going mad at the CIA, if he dared say so himself.

And he was betting that Carolyn was too, and he was surprised she lasted this long in the game to be honest, he thought with a small frown on his face.

He wanted to go to Vienna but for some reason it didn't feel right to go, not without his friend, who was hurting right now due to an old lover of whom she thought was dead but now here, and in prison due to the possession of cocaine and trying to cover up assignments that he clearly had a hand in, the bloody bastard, Benji thought with a scowl on his face. Benji sensed that man was dirty. He sensed he was even more ruthless when they read the man's file after the arrest, but Benji couldn't quite place his finger on it and it drove him crazy. The whole operation drove him crazy and he was sorry to Brandt, but he had to leave, and it wasn't like Brandt was drowning in emotions and torn up about Carolyn anyway….if he was…he had a funny way of showing it.

Then again, it was entirely possible that Brandt was trying to hide his feelings because he had to work next to Hunley, a man who was ruthless and out for blood, Ethan's blood. And they almost caught him in Havana, Cuba.

That does it. He made the final decision to leave his office with his jacket and he decided to head to Carolyn's hotel room, where she'd been staying for the past six months.

Benji knocked on the door of Carolyn's hotel room. "Carolyn?" he asked, leaning against the door.

No answer.

He knocked again.

Benji glanced around his surroundings on the empty hallway of her hotel room. It was morning, and it was quiet so hardly anyone was up and awake. He was bursting with joy on the inside and he couldn't wait to share his trip with someone he really cared about, and he was lucky to have Carolyn was a friend, at least he'd considered her a friend.

"Go away, Benji," she bemoaned. "I'm tired."

Benji let out a sigh. He didn't want to have to do this. He took out his phone and went to his set of keys, finding one that resembled a room key, hacked into the hotel code to get into her door, placed the phone by the room lock and waited until it turned green. "Sorry, C, you leave me no choice," he said, as he pushed the door open that revealed a very dark and closed off room. He sighed again, shoulders slumping at what he saw. His poor Carolyn, lying in bed, sprawled across the one-sized bed. Her body was tangled up in sheets and she was wearing black velvet pajama's, face first in her pillow.

Benji took a look around in the dark room, and walked over to the wall, where he flipped the lights on.

Carolyn let out a groan and she grabbed the second pillow to cover her head. "Benji…" she cried, voice muffled within her pillow.

He looked over at the table that was covered in a bag of empty Oreos, and three bottles of wine, unopened and perfectly sealed.

 _Typical,_ he thought, shaking his head. She never drank the alcohol that was given to her. She didn't even drink the one on the plane! He remembered that she wasn't big on alcohol though. He just didn't know why she didn't drink it when she bought it, wasting precious money on the substance.

"I _know_ I don't have to be in the office today, Benji, so if you don't mind, please kindly let yourself out and leave me to sleep in peace," Carolyn said. She'd be happy just sleeping all day and for the rest of the week if she didn't have to go into work every day, and work with Brandt and Hunley, hunting down Ethan Hunt, a man who had saved her life, and given her the will to live, and now she was working against him, and it broke every fiber and thread of her heart, twisting her feelings around like mush. She was so torn up inside that she considered believing those words that had come out of Blair's mouth.

She should've just listened to Hunley's words and forget about him, and moved on like she was supposed to. She was feeling happy again, especially when she'd fallen hard for Agent William Brandt, but now that was rickety and she didn't know how to fix it.

She didn't know how to stop Hunley from getting to Ethan.

A scary thought occurred to her and panic gripped her soul. She shot up in bed, hair sticking up everywhere, and her eyes landed on Benji.

"Did they find, Ethan?" she asked.

Benji furrowed his brows at her and frowned. "No," he said.

"Oh thank God," she breathed a large sigh of relief. "Okay, well I'm going back to bed now, dreaming of paradise, and living on an island, safe and sound…"

Benji ran a hand over his face and got up from the edge of the bed. He wasn't going to let her live like a hermit crab. He patted her leg, making her groan again. "Okay, that's it, come on, pack a bag."

"Where are we going?" Carolyn asked.

"Vienna," Benji said. "I won two tickets to go see the Opera and I'm going to share it with my friend."

Carolyn arched an eyebrow, and looked at him curiously. "Do you know how random that sounds right now?"

Benji smiled. "I won two tickets, Carolyn! Two! I feel like my work has _finally_ paid off! I'm totally going to get swank-defied and wear fancy cologne, and you can wear a beautiful dress, and we'll go together, like the vacation that we actually deserve."

Carolyn gulped. "Vacation sounds like a curse to me now," she said dryly. "I'm perfectly happy staying in bed, safe, where I don't have to worry about explosions, drowning underwater, or getting shot at…I think my days with the IMF have finally come to an end."

"I promise no international espionage!" Benji said. "Scout's honor!" he held up his fingers in the air. "Please? It'll at least get your mind off of the whole Brandt ordeal… and I think you deserve a little outing."

Carolyn let out half-a-snort. "Thank you, Benji, but I don't deserve anything. Need I remind you, I feel in love with a jerk, and nearly cost Brandt his job, so forgive me but I don't think I'll be your best company this weekend. My life is over. Blair is right, I am worthless." She dropped back to her bed with a sigh, and closed her eyes at the those final thoughts running through her head.

She didn't know how to talk to Brandt anymore. She didn't know how to live anymore. She was a worthless waste of a human being. She didn't even drink for crying out loud! The one drink she tried with her friend Gina made her tipsier than she liked to count. She counted her blessings that Gina brought her home to their apartment safely that night. Oh, Carolyn thought sadly, her life was falling apart very, very fast. It's not like she had her life together in the first place anyway, she'd been so distraught over the years, she didn't have a clue as to who she was anymore.

Benji sighed. _Well, we can't have that now can we?_ Benji thought and walked right over to the edge of her bed.

He reached over and pulled her bed out from underneath her and flipped her over onto the floor. "Owe!" Carolyn groaned, as Benji put the bed back onto its spot. He walked over to her and placed his hands on his hips, looking down at her.

She turned around and looked at him, cringing her eyes a bit as she looked at Benji's concerned face. He leaned forward.

"You are not a worthless piece of shit, Carolyn. Don't think for one second that you are. We all have our faults, yes, but last I recall about eight months ago, you saved the world?! Where's that cute and spunky Carolyn that I've grown to love so much? Who thought I was very swank-defied, because let's face it, I am," he grinned and she arched an amused eyebrow at him. "I like that Carolyn. I'm going to help her bring her back. She'll be fresh and new and she'll be in love again with Brandt because we all know that's going to be endgame and you two are going to be very happy together and have babies, damn it, and name one after me. We are _going_ to the Opera." Benji said.

Carolyn blinked at Benji's loud yet passionate filled voice in her ears. "Okay," she said. "I'll go with you, Benji, if it really means that much to you."

"It does, it really, really does, and I'll even bypass the fact you told Hunley about Havana because I know he's not the easiest man to be around," Benji said, offering her a helping hand. "So, Vienna?" he asked.

She sighed, glancing around her messy suite. She needed to get out of this place. It was driving her crazy. And she could try to get some clarity at how she was going to figure out how to deal with Brandt, and her misgivings with that relationship that she just totally destroyed.

"Vienna," she said. She cringed. "Oh, I should tell you. I'm going to be avoiding men at all costs when I go there, so act as my date, okay?"

Benji grinned. "Wouldn't have it any other way, love, now get dress, and beautified, I already have the perfect evening gown for you."

"This shower is so lame compared to the one at the Burj," she whispered to Benji, who chuckled at her. He started to help her clean the room. They were on their way to Vienna, Austria, and he was going to get the old Carolyn back somehow, and make things right.

 **~*O*~**

 **A/n: Leave it to Benji to be so awesome! Hope you liked! Sorry the scenes were a bit choppy, but that's kind of how it is in the film! I did my best!**


	11. Chapter 10: Vienna

**Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows! I so hope you like this story! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun, and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Chapter 10: Vienna**

Benji and Carolyn had arrived in Vienna the next day. And, it took the rest of the afternoon for Carolyn to get ready for a night at the Opera, but she finally made it in a beautiful floor length dress that was showing all the right curves and skin in various places she didn't know she even _could_ show. It was very elegant to say the least. But as she had looked in the mirror, makeup all done with mascara and eyeliner completing her look, so it was sultry and fun, she still felt an empty hole in her heart. She finished her hair off with a French twist, leaving two curls dangling by her ears. She didn't wear any jewelry whatsoever because the dress and her shoes really spoke for themselves.

Carolyn followed Benji out of the subway door and into the underground subway of Vienna's tunnel transportations. It reminded her of London. She would see the King's Cross station in various movies when she was younger, so poignant in her mind. Places like these are probably what sparked her interest to go traveling around the world.

Benji offered the hook of his arm out towards her, and she gracefully and gratefully took it within her delicate arm. With her other hand, she carried a silver clutch. She never felt more elegant in her silk dress. The silk felt so smooth against her skin and flowed incredibly nice when she walked the cobblestone streets at night. She must admit, she was having a much better time with Benji than she did with Dimitri.

"I know you've been dying to ask me about Minsk and how I got there," Carolyn said, which caught Benji a little off guard by her statement, but Benji was grateful that she was finally opening up to him after all this time.

"I'm incredibly interested, but if you don't want to say-" Benji said but Carolyn tightened her grip on his arm as they started to weave through the oncoming crowds, as some of them headed home from work or shopping, whatever the people in Vienna did in their daily and wonderful lives. None of them had to worry about the kinds of stuff that Carolyn had to worry about, and she was kind of envious.

"You're the _only_ person I trust right now, Benji," she said. "I want to tell you. I'm really glad you pushed me to come out tonight."

Benji smiled. "Really?"

"Yes," she said. "And for once I actually feel like I _am_ on vacation. It's nice to take the edge off, you know?"

Benji nodded. "So, what happened?"

Carolyn let out a breath. She told him everything in one big gulp of air and let everything that she'd been holding inside of her since she got back from Minsk. Everything, meeting Dimitri, getting drugged, even from the moment that Ethan told her where he was going to be and what he was up to. He was tracking something called the Syndicate. He also said something to her that was shocking, but very on point. Charlie Blair was part of the Syndicate. And she didn't want to believe that Charlie had gone rogue. She was really positive that it was like an undercover thing and he was just doing his job for Hunley, but that wasn't necessarily the case.

"Well," Benji said with a frown. "If we're confessing now, I should tell you…Charlie ended up dead in that prison."

Carolyn widened her eyes, "What?" she asked.

"Yeah," Benji cringed slightly. "I'm sorry…"

"No, don't be, I mean the guy was a complete ass," Carolyn said. Benji arched an eyebrow at her impressive mouth. "Well, he was. I should've seen the signs, but I didn't. I was…"

"Head over heels and in love?" Benji guessed for her. She nodded. He saw her sad eyes and his heart went out to her. That's why he had hope that Brandt would come to his senses. He really did think that Brandt and Carolyn would make a great couple, and that his girl could use someone like Brandt in her life. As far as Benji was concerned, Brandt's file was clean. Croatia could kiss Benji's buttocks.

"Yeah," she said softly. "He was my first real relationship. I thought," she said, feeling her throat tighten. "Never mind. I just thought he was-"

"I know," Benji said, patting the bare skin her back. "I know, Carolyn. You're lucky you know? You have us to watch your back."

Carolyn smiled at him, "I am, aren't I?"

Benji nodded, and winked at her.

"I just don't understand why I get into these _situations_ all the time, you know? It's like…I'm cursed or something," Carolyn said with a sigh. "It's always the same. I think they're cute, and that it's the real thing, but then they end up like jerks!"

"Well, to be fair, Dimitri _was_ a terrorist from the getgo, so that wasn't your fault, you just didn't know. And _two_ Blair…was just an…"

"Ass?" they said in sync, glancing at each other. They both shared a chuckle.

"I think next year, I'll stay in this time," Carolyn said. "Vienna is my last trip. I am putting my foot down."

Benji chuckled, "I'd like to see you try," but his laughter died when a thought occurred to him. "You know," he said, keeping her close by him. She listened, brushing a strand of brown hair behind the curved shell of her ear. "Not all of us are arses."

Carolyn quirked an eyebrow at Benji. Well, she knew that. Benji was a sweetheart, and an even greater friend. And she adored Ethan and Brandt to pieces…but there were just complications there that she couldn't even begin to fix. She wasn't going to think about it tonight. "Well, I know you're not, Benji," she beamed brightly. Benji blushed and smiled bashfully.

"Thanks, Carolyn," Benji said, smiling at her.

"Any time," Carolyn winked at him. She really was having fun. It was nice to have a fun filled free… but suddenly someone slapped something in front of Benji's suit as they were about to leave the underground subway up to the surface. Carolyn frowned as she watched the man in a hood speed-walk away. "Well, _that_ was rude." She muttered. "What is it?" she asked. Curiosity getting the better of her.

"Not sure," Benji said slowly as he opened up the manila folder in his hand. He pulled out a small paper book that was called The Turnabout.

He handed it to Carolyn, and she ran her index finger along the edges of the pamphlet. "It's a playbill?" she asked curiously. She looked at the glasses that Ethan pulled out. "And glasses."

Benji gave Carolyn a knowing look, and Carolyn's heart sank. Uh-oh...did she speak too soon?

Benji opened up the glasses and put them on, pushing them up on his nose. Carolyn saw the green light blink, as if it spluttered to life, and then disappear to act as regular glasses.

" _Welcome to Vienna, Benji, miss me?_ " Ethan's voice echoed inside Benji's ear. Benji turned around in a bit of a shock, taking Carolyn with him, as she almost tripped on the trail of her dress.

"Ethan, where are you?" Benji asked.

"Ethan?!" Carolyn asked in the same alarmed tone of voice Benji had.

Benji nodded. Carolyn handed him the items back and he stuffed them in his jacket pocket.

"Where the _hell_ have you been? You know what…please don't tell me that because it's just another thing I will have to lie about on my weekly polygraph!" Benji said exasperatedly.

" _Everything's going to be fine_ ," Ethan said. " _Just keep walking, but make sure you're not being followed_."

"Ooh, I didn't win those Opera tickets did I?" Benji asked, sharing a wary look with Carolyn as they started to walk quickly out of the tunnel, heading toward the escalators that would eventually lead them to the streets of Vienna.

" _No, I'm afraid not_ ," Ethan replied.

"So where do we meet?" Benji asked.

" _We don't_ ," Ethan said. " _For your sake, we shouldn't be seen together. You've got mail_."

Benji took out his new phone, and saw a picture of a man sketched out on a blank drawing page.

Carolyn couldn't help but peek at the man's face with glasses perched on his nose and she frowned. He didn't look very friendly.

They stepped onto the escalators.

"Who is he?" Benji asked to Ethan. Carolyn continued to look over Benji's shoulders.

" _That's what we're here to find out_ ," Ethan said. " _What I do know is that he is our only possible link to the Syndicate. I thought it was Blair, but turned out to be a pawn. And I have reason to believe that he is going to be here tonight. But I can't find him alone. Are you in?_ "

"Um," Benji said, glancing at Carolyn who had an anxious facial expression on her face, and he felt like his arm was going to fall off with her grip.

" _Are you in?_ " Ethan asked.

"Well, see, here's the thing…funny thing, really," Benji chuckled nervously, as he cast a wary glance at Carolyn. "I thought they were winning tickets to a _lovely_ night at the Opera, so I thought I'd share them with my friend Carolyn…and I kind of brought her here."

Carolyn rolled her eyes, "He _did_ bring me here," she said loudly in Benji's ear, but she was trying to speak into the little speakers that the glasses had, hoping Ethan would hear her.

Ethan sighed. " _She really shouldn't be involved anymore than she already is…but…_ "

"Don't send me back to the hotel, _please_ , _please, please_ ," Carolyn said. "I don't know if I can handle another bag of Oreos."

"And three unopened bottles of wine; that sounds _so_ awful," Benji mocked.

Carolyn smacked him lightly in the chest, giving him a dark look.

" _Alright_ ," Ethan said in Benji's glasses. _"She can stay, but, she'll be enjoying herself at the Opera. Is that a deal?_ "

Carolyn nodded. "That sounds fair," she said.

"She agrees," Benji told Ethan. "We're in."

They stepped off the escalator and onto another platform. "So, what's the play?"

" _Simple, we find him, you tag him, I follow him wherever he goes_ ," Ethan said, as Benji stopped for a brief moment.

Carolyn cleared her throat as she held on tight onto Benji's arm so she wouldn't trip over her high-heeled shoes.

" _After that, you and Carolyn are on a plane, back at work Monday morning, and no one would be the wiser_ ," Ethan said.

"What…that's it?" Benji asked. He sounded almost disappointed in Carolyn's ears, and she almost felt disappointed too. If they were on a secret mission as it seemed like they were going to be in, Carolyn _definitely_ wanted to be apart of it. She could use it to take her mind off of her messed up life.

" _You two are in enough danger as it is_ ," Ethan said.

Carolyn leaned into whisper to Benji, "Took a wrong turn didn't you?" she asked.

"Shh," Benji said and he turned them around to head back to another set of escalators.

Carolyn grinned slightly, as she followed him and up the escalators in hopes they would get above ground.

"Well, if you're going to at least get me all this way, you could come up with something a little more, you know…dramatic," Benji said.

" _Benji_ ," Ethan said. " _We're trying to keep a low profile here. You want drama, go to the Opera._ "

Benji and Carolyn finally made it to the huge Opera house that seemed to stretch for miles, horizontally, and vertically, all lit up and gorgeous. The architecture on the building was amazing, and intricate in detail. Everyone was there and it seemed like it was Vienna's highlight event of the night. Carolyn smelled in the fresh air as she walked across the streets and over to the building.

"Now, _this_ is site-seeing," Carolyn said with a bright smile on her face. Benji smiled at her. He was glad to see her try to get into her old grove back. He really did miss her. He didn't like it when she was depressive, but he could understand why. The girl's had it rough, and she deserved a little fun.

Benji and Carolyn made their way to the doors, and Carolyn couldn't help but notice who had arrived in such fancy cars with the press out and about, taking pictures of the Chancellor of Vienna.

"The Chancellor of Austria," Carolyn whispered under her breath.

"Are you… _sure_?" Benji asked, turning his head slightly behind him, careful not to make eye contact, but careful so that he could see the old man and his wife, talking to many different people.

There was security to their left as they walked inside. "Positive," she said.

"Remember, culture addict?" she asked, pointing to herself.

"Right," Benji winced, and turned around to face the Chancellor of Austria in the midst of the lights and crowds along the red carpet with his wife who was on his arm, smiling and gorgeous. "Right. Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

" _Yes, I am_ ," Ethan replied.

"Tell Ethan," Carolyn said anxiously.

"Carolyn was wondering if we're assuming to be correct that that is the Chancellor of Austria," Benji said. Carolyn smiled proudly on her lips as they walked inside the Opera house.

" _Yes you are_ ," Ethan replied. " _That's good work, Carolyn_."

"Did you know he was going to be here?" Benji asked. Benji looked at Carolyn. She looked at him curiously. "He's very proud." She beamed, secretly proud that she could help Ethan.

" _No,_ " Ethan said.

"Right," Benji said. "Well, we have a European Head of State here at the same time we are looking for a nefarious terrorist with our FOC who's back and freaking out right beside me. And I am sure the two things are completely unrelated,"

" _Benji…_ " Ethan began to say but was cut off by Benji' realistic reasoning's spewing out of his mouth. He wondered if Carolyn had rubbed off on him somehow.

"While I will try to overlook the fact that you are a fugitive wanted by the CIA,"

" _Benji_." Ethan tried again.

"And this little operation is treason. But as you mentioned earlier I will be back at my desk on Monday morning, playing video games, Carolyn will be back at her hotel suite eating another bag of Oreos," Benji didn't miss the scowled look on her face. "And no one would be the wiser."

" _The show's about to start, Benji_ ," Ethan said.

"Right," Benji said.

" _Take your position, tell me what you see_ ," Ethan said. " _Nice tux, by the way. And tell Carolyn, she looks lovely in that royal purple. It might be her new color_."

Benji stopped, and turned around to see where Ethan was. Carolyn's eyes also searched to see if she could find him, but of course he was nowhere to be found.

"Ethan says your gorgeous," Benji sad.

Carolyn blushed immensely. "Well, this has been fun, but before the show begins, I would like to take the opportunity to use the ladies' room."

"But the show's about to start!" Benji cried.

"I'll be five minutes, tops," Carolyn promised. She eyed Benji carefully. "I'll be fine. I promise," she gave him a small squeeze of his arm before they parted ways.

Benji scoffed, watching her leave. "Yeah, right, like it takes five minutes…" Benji sighed, and walked around the second floor of the Opera house that would eventually lead him to a small closet room where he could conduct his little operation with Ethan Hunt.

Benji passed by a couple walking beside him totally in their own little worlds. He checked behind him to make sure that no one was near him, and took out his phone. The phone screen turned into a key for the door, he stuck it near the keyhole, and twisted it. He opened the door and let himself in. As he was inside, he opened up the control box of the entire backstage monitor screens for the main-control room of the stage booth up on a higher level above the theatre seats and the stage.

He set up his work station, by pulling a couple of silver boxes and took everything that Ethan had given to him to use to track the Syndicate down, during the show of the Opera. Benji rolled his eyes. Carolyn was going to enjoy it without him while he was here doing all the hard and dirty work from this interesting pamphlet Ethan had time to configure just for him. Goodie, Benji thought. He put the silver device into the Turnabout pamphlet and the letters scrambled away.

"Join the IMF, _see the world_ , on a monitor," Benji mumbled sarcastically and with a scowl on his face, as he stared at the screen before him.

Meanwhile, Carolyn walked out of the bathroom stall, feeling much better, and walked over to the sink. She placed her silver clutch down on the pearl marble countertop and sighed. She searched for her mascara and lip-gloss, but found her phone instead, and decided to take it out. She should be having fun right now, because she was in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and wearing a gorgeous dress that made her feel naked half the time, but still, she felt elegant as ever, and yet, she was still feeling hollow inside.

She knew perfectly why. She didn't want to think about it, but somehow it just slipped into her mind. She'd messed things up with Brandt. She didn't tell him about Charlie like she should have. But she thought he was dead. She thought he was out of her life forever. She didn't even think he existed anymore and she thought she could move on. Brandt didn't see it that way. She pulled out her phone and scanned through her contacts, and high-lighted his name. She had half a mind to call him, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. He was probably working right now anyway, busy trying to find Ethan Hunt. She winced. And she was supposed to help him find Ethan, and of course she knew where he was. He was here in the building, keeping out of sight, thank goodness, but Carolyn couldn't turn Ethan in. She wouldn't turn Ethan in. Ethan always had her back, and she had his. There was no way she was going to turn on him now.

She looked up in the mirror and widened her eyes when she saw someone staring back at her. Someone who looked _exactly_ like her. Almost like a twin.

She dropped her phone out of her hands and it fell on the countertop.

"Hello, Carolyn," Gina said.

And she sounded exactly like her too.

"Did you miss me?" she asked, this time in a voice that Carolyn recognized. Carolyn was shocked to hell, and her face was paling white.

"Gina…" she whispered, feeling horrified and sick to her stomach. She was about to whirl around to face her exact twin, except Gina was wearing a different dress than she was. Benji had explained to Carolyn that it was a one-of-a-kind dress.

"Why, you look like you've just seen a ghost..." Gina asked.

"H-how…is this even..."

"Possible?" Gina finished for her. "It's been a really long time, but I have been waiting _forever_ to do this," Gina said.

Carolyn frowned. She didn't understand. "Do what?" she asked.

Gina suddenly whipped out a long string that looked like a wire, and wrapped it around her neck. Carolyn gasped in shock as the wire wrapped around her throat. Carolyn tried to reach for her phone with her free hand, grabbed it, and started to frantically search for Benji's number, but Gina pulled her back against her weight and gold.

Carolyn tried to scream, but the wire cut off her circulation. Gina knocked the phone out of Carolyn's hands just as Carolyn had finally reached Benji, but it went to voicemail instead. Carolyn winced and furrowed her brows in a frown. The phone flew to the floor so Carolyn tried to pry the wire off of her instead while she still had time to breathe.

"Stop fighting, Carolyn," Gina hissed in Carolyn's ear. Carolyn shivered against Gina's body, unable to help but feel the cool and sharp hatred of energy that seemed so fresh in Carolyn's eyes and Carolyn couldn't understand why Gina was acting like her, or had the same face like her. She couldn't understand why Gina had suddenly pulled a one-eighty on her. It was baffling. "It's not worth it to fight when you have no one by your side to rescue you this time."

Carolyn widened her eyes, as she gasped for air. She still fought with all her might and actually tried to scream out Ethan and Benji's name in hopes that one of them was around, but Gina rolled her eyes, and put a chloroform cloth over her mouth to shut her up and knock her unconscious. The girl slipped into Gina's strong arms, and Gina sighed in a huff. " _Finally_ ," Gina muttered under her breath as she dragged Carolyn's body into a stall. Gina discarded the chloroform cloth and the string into the silver bin where women would toss tampons away.

Gina quickly changed dresses, putting the black dress that Gina wore back onto Carolyn's body. Gina put on the purple silk dress and took off Carolyn's shoes. She switched the entire outfit because everything had to be precise. These IMF men were smart, and if anything was out of place, Gina was dead.

Gina did not want to die today but she had a job to do. Lane was getting impatient but like she explained to Lane, Ethan had sent "Carolyn Mason" home. Gina was already working the minds on both worlds, so she didn't need to be there. Her target right now was Ethan Hunt. Give the girl Carolyn a little push from her past, and everything was going to be rock solid, or so she thought. She really hadn't thought that Carolyn would last this long. After all, the woman was a mess, mostly thanks to Gina, and Gina wasn't regretting it at all.

Gina finally finished changing, and called in a friend of a favor from one of Lane's boys. "God, she's a lot heavier than she looks," Gina said, dragging Carolyn's body over to the young man, standing in the middle of the threshold of the ladies' restroom. The man dressed in black nodded to Gina. "Take her to Lane, and tell him, I'm close, but she needs to be out of the way."

"Got it," he nodded, and took Carolyn over his shoulder, and walked out of the women's restroom.

"Don't be seen!" Gina warned and turned around, hearing the sound of a buzzing vibration on the floor.

She grabbed the sides of her silk dress in between her fingers and picked up Carolyn's phone.

It was Carolyn's friend Benji, of whom Gina spotted earlier. She'd watched through the shadows, waiting for the right moment.

"Benji," Gina greeted as Carolyn but in a relieved sound of voice. "Hey, Benji, what's up?"

" _Is everything okay?_ " Benji asked slowly.

"Everything's fine, where are you?" she asked.

"Sitting in a closet, behind a bloody monitor. How's the show?" Benji asked.

"A little boring. To be kind of honest, I'm lonely, sitting here with all these people. Mind if I join you?" she asked, pulling the strands of her wispy curls underneath her hair and over her ears.

"Ethan's going to kill me, but _fine_ ," Benji sighed. Carolyn would probably just argue, he thought. "You should be out of harm's way, anyway."

Gina smiled, taking Carolyn's silver clutch bag off the countertop before she left the bathroom, and walked out onto the balcony, heading towards the main control room, as if nothing happened.

"On my way," she said with a smile.


	12. Chapter 11: The Turnadot

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am not writing for profit, just writing for fun. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy! Thank you for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing!**

 **Chapter 11: The Turandot**

" _Talk to me Benji,"_ Ethan whispered through his earpiece. He stood behind the scenes of the backstage where he could see the woman singing one of the songs in the Opera.

"Nothing yet, standby," Benji replied back to Ethan.

Carolyn looked over on the small monitor in which Benji was sitting in front of. She held her neck against the palms of her hands as if she was relieving a migraine."You're looking for Solomon Lane, right?" she asked curiously.

Benji didn't eye Carolyn, but furrowed his brows, as he continued to swipe through the many faces of the crowds sitting inside the audience. "You know what _would_ be helpful?"

"If I shut up?" Carolyn suggested.

"Well," Benji winced. "That would be helpful, but if we had eyes in the audience."

" _I'm on it, Benji,"_ Ethan said. " _Carolyn needs to stay away from this guy."_

"Apparently plans have _changed_ ," Benji told Carolyn.

Carolyn turned slightly in the pace of her walk, and pursed her lips together, "Hmm," she said lightly, and continued to pace back and forth until Benji was finished combing through the hundred faces on his monitor that looked like Lane, but wasn't Lane at all.

"Uh, Ethan, I might have something for you, can't confirm," Benji said, that made Carolyn turn to face the monitor where she spotted men dressed in costume wearing black outfits and white masks with hats on top of their heads. A man was letting them inside the backstage area.

" _Where?"_ Ethan inquired.

"Backstage, I'll direct you," Benji replied.

Carolyn paced behind Benji as she glanced at the monitor every so often when Benji would open his mouth to direct Ethan to his destination. She was very curious to how this man in particular was an IMF agent…a _field_ agent no less. He must be very smart or they wouldn't have chosen him.

~*MI*~

Ethan heard Benji's words in his ear. He headed straight towards backstage and unlocked the door with his key-phone. He wasn't backstage per say, he'd ended up on the backstage cat-walk area that over looked the stage with bright white stage lights that shined down on the Turandot's colorful set scenes that looked like they were set in China.

Ethan looked down below him and spotted one of Lane's henchmen walking backstage against the drums within the song of the Opera. Ethan stepped back and quickly jumped up onto a rope and swung over like he was Tarzan, grabbing a hold onto the rope to steady him self, watching to see where Lane's henchman would end up. He pulled himself downward onto the black pillar and climbed down as quickly as he could, jumping on the first cat-walk that hung on the wires against the curtains.

He walked down to the winding stairwell and stopped when he spotted her. The woman he'd seen in London, who helped him escape. She was wearing a yellow silk dress that looked simply exquisite as she walked gracefully across the other side of the theatre behind the scenes.

"Benji, did you see that?" Ethan asked.

" _See what?"_ Benji replied.

"The woman," Ethan said.

" _What woman? Where are you?_ " Benji asked.

But Ethan was too focused on one of Lane's men who was following the woman in the yellow silk dress to answer Benji's legitimate questions. Ethan climbed down the stairwell and walked backstage where the tall sets of buildings and costume players were walking by for the next scene in the Opera.

He spun around and darted out of the way of one of the huge set pieces as the backstage crew members started to roll it out.

He needed to get back up there as the man walked across the cat-walk. He found a set of stairs that led him up to the cat-walk and another right beside the woman hidden inside the set pieces, who was fixing bullets inside her shotgun.

There he was, Ethan thought, one of Lane's henchmen, fixing his shotgun inside an instrument. Clever, really, Ethan thought, but he was not going to get away with this. Ethan was not going to let anything happen. He carefully untied his tie, loosening his shirt a bit so he had room to breathe, and walked forward slowly and carefully right behind Lane's henchman.

Suddenly out of nowhere, Ethan's cat-walk rose up a couple levels. Ethan balanced himself so that he wouldn't fall from the sudden movement.

Ethan glanced around in confusion, wondering what the hell had just happened. He rolled his eyes and glanced down carefully to see how he was going to get to him. He looked back behind him to see a set of cable wires and rope. He pulled back against them tight in his hands and jumped down to the second cat-walk level. Just as he landed hard on his feet, the henchman who was just about finished closing his silver instrument tight, whirled around and used his instrument to protect himself from Ethan.

Ethan tried to grab it out of his hands, both struggling for the instrument, and as they both turned to stand on their feet, the flute box and the music sheet fell over, landing in one of the gold set pieces down below.

The henchman was a lot bigger than Ethan thought he was, especially when he rose up and above him, glaring down at Ethan like he was an ant. The henchman banged Ethan's head against his, knocking Ethan down on his back. He lowered himself against him with his flute and tried to choke his neck with it, struggling against the cat-walk's metal that bit into Ethan's back. He struggled against the brute strength this guy had, but Ethan thought he saw something peculiar in his eyes, something familiar.

Meanwhile, as Ethan was struggling against the henchman and realizing that he was being watched through the eye contact lenses, the man that had carried an unconscious Carolyn from the restroom and down backstage to where Lane was, set her down next to Lane. Lane turned away from his phone at the exact moment Ethan punched his henchman and glared at his comrade.

"Bring her home for me, please," Lane said softly.

"She said she's close," the comrade said. "She's with the technician now."

"Not close enough," Lane said, showing his comrade his phone where Ethan was.

The comrade winced.

"Bring her home, please," Lane repeated with a slight irritant tone in his voice that he was being interrupted.

The comrade, tough and strong as he was, nodded, and he picked her up again, waltzing right out of backstage, missing Ethan and Benji with Carolyn's slender body on his broad shoulders.

Ethan ran and charged at the henchman, throwing a kick toward his chest, but it didn't send him flying. Essentially it made him madder, and so he advanced forward and punched him in the face, the stomach, trying his best to hit Ethan as Ethan tried his best to protect the henchman's blows and his face until he finally flipped him over down to the second level of another cat-walk that was down below.

The song ended and the audience clapped. But there was no time for a break because the song turned into another dramatic love song and all of a sudden Ethan's cat-walk jumped upwards against Ethan's own will. He was actually heading toward the henchman instead of trying to get away from him who'd just pulled out a knife. Ethan groaned, dropping his head with exhaustion.

Ethan slowly got up and watched him to see what he was going to do first. He advanced forward and Ethan ran backwards. The henchman aimed his knife at Ethan's head and Ethan pulled the curtain in front of him as a shield, backing away from the knife that got stuck inside the thick fabric of the cloth like curtain.

He walked backwards again and leaned forward but then back, gripping tightly onto the rope, and whirled around just as the henchman tried to attack him with the knife again, but the knife ended up in the henchman's chest. The henchman butt-headed Ethan, which then made them both hang onto the ropes for dear life as they twirled back onto the cat-walk.

The henchman attacked him twice, trying to slice Ethan's white blouse. Ethan jumped backwards, grabbed one of the rolled up cable wires from the hanging lights, and started hitting him in the head with it until he grabbed Ethan's neck in a chokehold lock. Ethan was able to see across the theatre where the control booth was for the lights, and widened his brown concerned eyes when he spotted another henchman ready to kill someone with his own shotgun. He put on a pair of sunglasses and opened the glass door.

Just as the cat-walk was moving up, Ethan used his shoes to climb up and use it as a lever to flip himself over and knock the henchman with the knife down.

" _Ethan, the lighting booth! Ethan do you copy!"_ Benji said frantically in his ear as Ethan fell over the cat-walk, hanging onto the edge with his bare hands.

~*MI*~

"What's wrong?" Carolyn asked, looking up at Benji who grimaced when he couldn't hear a word coming from Ethan's earpiece. She leaned her elbows off of the crate and looked at him with concern.

"Stay here," Benji ordered. "I'm going after him."

"What? No way! I'm not staying here! I'm coming with you!" Carolyn said urgently.

"You need to stay out of harm's way-" Benji tried to reason with her. Why couldn't she see that?

"And what if _you_ get in harm's way?" Carolyn countered. "I want to help."

Benji saw her crest-fallen face, and he wrinkled his nose. He growled under his breath. He really didn't have time for this. He waved her anxiously over to him, and she grinned excitedly. She took a handful of her silk dress in her hands and pulled it up so she could run beside Benji and not trip on the dress.

~*MI*~

Ethan had grabbed the instrument finally after he'd knocked over the first henchman instantly to his death, and steadied himself, trying to stay focused in the middle of this crazy fight behind backstage at the same time the Opera was happening. It was a brilliant but scary move. He took a deep breath and brought the flute in his hands. He reached for the bullets that rested on the metal floor of the cat-walk, and set it up so that he could finish the fight, but as he raised the weapon, he spotted her again, the woman in the yellow silk dress.

He turned to see where she was pointing the gun towards. The Chancellor of Austria. He widened his eyes and then glanced at the other henchman who also had his gun pointed at the Chancellor of Austria.

Ethan settled the flute like weapon against his shoulders and held his elbow against his knee as he pointed at the same henchman across the theatre and towards the lighting booth.

Just as the first high note hit, Ethan raised his flute weapon to shoot the lighting booth henchman, so sure that he should kill him first, but that rational voice in his head slightly spoke to him and pointed at her who also had her gun pointed at the Chancellor of Austria. He winced, shaking his head. No. She had to be good. There was more to her, otherwise she would have killed the Chancellor by now, right?

He moved the flute over again to the henchman. Either way they were both going to kill the Chancellor of Austria…right?

Ethan grimaced and pointed his flute weapon directly at the Chancellor of Austria and shot at the poor man who flew over to his wife's lap inside their safe little balcony booth at the same time the Opera singer raised his voice high with the tempo.

The woman in the yellow dress glanced around upstairs, wondering who had shot him before she could. She glared at the man as Ethan Hunt. At the corner of her eyes, she spotted the other henchman at the lighting booth and started killing him, and shooting at Ethan as Ethan ran.

Meanwhile Benji and Carolyn burst through the lighting booth. Benji ripped off his glasses and ran forward toward the henchman.

Carolyn suddenly ducked at the sound of gunshots toward the lighting booth. She looked over and spotted the woman hidden within the tier house set piece, aiming for them.

Carolyn looked over at Benji who was in a tight spot, trying to defend himself from the henchman. The henchman tossed Benji against the wall, and Benji ducked to deflect his blow.

Carolyn ran behind him and jumped up on his back to help Benji, but the henchman flew her off, flexing his broad shoulders and she rolled onto the floor.

Benji and the henchman struggled in a fight, and the henchman turned his back toward the window just in time for him to get shot by the mystery woman that Ethan has been following. Benji saw her pointed gun, panicking, he ran for the light switch, and pushed it up all the way so that it blinded her so she wouldn't hit him.

She raised her gun and pointed it at the lights to shatter the light away. Glass shards fell everywhere as her shot ran in the dark.

Benji helped Carolyn off the floor and they bolted out of the place.


	13. Chapter 12: Ilsa Faust

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun, and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 12: Ilsa Faust**

Carolyn's eyes widened and she gripped the edges of her seat. She was sitting beside Benji as he drove down the streets of Austria, and witnessing a car explosion. "Oh my God," she gasped. "Was that the?"

"Yes," Benji cringed nervously, and pressed his foot on the break pedal to a quick halt as he drove up to Ethan and the mystery woman. "Get in!" he said to Ethan.

Ethan and the woman quickly jumped inside the backseat of Benji's car. Ethan was utterly thankful for him right now. "Go, go, go!" Ethan said and Benji sped off as quickly as he could while the Austrians were so caught up at what just happened in the square corner beside the Opera House. Police cars joined the scene not too long after.

Once they were in the clear, Benji suddenly realized that the woman who tried to kill Benji was sitting beside Ethan. "What the…?" Benji said, glaring at her through his rear view mirror. He turned around.

Carolyn looked up at the rear view mirror as well.

"She tried to _shoot_ me!" Benji cried.

"That doesn't make her a bad person," Ethan said

"Kind of, sort of does," Carolyn muttered under her breath.

"Thank you," Benji mouthed to her. She smiled.

Ethan turned around, back toward the front seat as he climbed over her in the backseat. The mystery woman watched curiously and with wide eyes. "I am going to have to search you," he said.

She held up her hands in defense, "You _have_ to let me go."

Benji chuckled, "Oh no, not a chance!"

"I assumed you were deep cover back in London," Ethan said. "Isn't that taking this role a little far?"

Carolyn quirked an eyebrow as Ethan spoke to her, memory linked to her own events in London that were rather unnecessary. She almost died no thanks to Ethan and the mystery woman.

"Hang on a minute, do you know her?" Benji said.

"Well, we haven't been formally introduced," Ethan said, taking out her knife. She smiled in amusement as he pocketed it. "But I'm pretty sure she's British Intelligence?"

"Ilsa Faust," Ilsa said, as he continued to search more weapons or anything of the sort she might carry. "You're Ethan Hunt. And she is…"

"Carolyn Mason," Carolyn said quickly, eyeing her through the rear view mirror. The two ladies shared a look. "Nice to meet you."

"When did you go to London?" Benji asked with a small frown on his features.

"It's a long story, but I'll tell you later," Carolyn promised.

"And that shade is _very_ hard to find," Ilsa said carefully, glancing at the silver lipstick in his hands.

Ethan pocketed it as well. "What were you doing at the Opera tonight?" Ethan asked.

"What, aside from killing the Chancellor?" Benji asked, glancing up at her in the rear view mirror as he continued to find a safe route.

"Saving your lives in London put me in a tight spot with some very dangerous people," Ilsa explained. "I was sent to kill the Chancellor to regain their trust."

Carolyn furrowed her brows as she listened to her story. She lightly hummed in curious thought.

"Ah so you admit that you killed him," Benji said.

Ethan pulled her gently away from the backseat into her arms and pulled out her hair twist-stick that looked pointy and sharp. "I went through the motions; that's not the same thing," she said.

"You thought you'd put him in the hospital, and out of harm's way," Ethan said, looking at the hair stick in his hands. He pocketed that too.

Ilsa leaned back, "Same thing you tried to do," she said.

"You're not going to _believe_ that are you? What about the rest of her team?" Benji asked.

"Ooh, good point," Carolyn said.

"You mean those other two idiots? I could only _assume_ they were redundancies," Ilsa said with a roll of her eyes.

"In case you didn't follow through," Ethan said. "One to kill the Chancellor, the other to kill you," he said. "A test."

"Second one I failed, thanks to you," Ilsa said.

"And the car bomb was insurance," Ethan said, trying to figure this all out.

Suddenly car lights shined behind the rear view glass in Benji's mirror. "Uh, we have a tail," Benji said.

Carolyn turned to face the backseat of the car and widened her eyes. Yup, there they were, Lane's men following them.

Ethan pulled out his cell phone, and showed Ilsa the picture. "Who is he?" he asked.

Ilsa looked at the familiar sketch on his phone, a man with glasses, thin nose, and narrow face. She knew who he was but there was no time for a full explanation to give him. "We're after the same thing and I can help you," she said quickly. "If you want to bring down the Syndicate, you _have_ to let me out."

"Uh," Benji said, sharing a worried look with Carolyn. She turned back in her seat and slunk against it. "They're closing."

She looked up at the rear view mirror and gasped, "Gun. There's a gun!" Carolyn said quickly and frantically.

"This has to look like an escape, so you just throw me out anywhere," Ilsa said.

"Tell me who he is," Ethan said.

Suddenly shots fired through the glass and Carolyn gasped, ducking in her seat. Benji jumped started and turned around the corner, speeding up ahead. "Whoa!" he cried. "Change of plan, throw her out!"

"You have everything you need to find me," Ilsa said, and quickly opened the door and rolled herself out onto the cobblestone streets.

Benji drove away, as fast as he could, leaving their only ally to the Syndicate.

~*MI*~

Meanwhile back in Washington D.C., Brandt was going through his own motions, sitting at his desk, listening to Hunley's brunt voice in his ears. He'd become numb to it all, and he wondered if Brandt might have his own break down one day, and finally snap. He didn't know how Carolyn did it. He didn't know how she could be so strong and be so brave at times like this. He admit that he was a little vexed when he heard about Charlie Blair, a one year engagement that she kept from him. Things were starting to come to light though. And he was trying to piece the puzzles together that Ethan had left for him, bread crumbs, as they were. Even Blair had been a pawn in this whole Syndicate ordeal.

The guy was a complete jerk to her, and Carolyn didn't deserve any of that. He just…he let out a small sigh. He just didn't know how to think of her now. Now that she actually had gone out with someone. It almost broke his heart a little bit. He thought he would be her first. It was a nice feeling that he was able to feel, something he hadn't felt in a very long time. But she was now single, and he apparently helped her bring her back to life. He'd never done that to anyone. He never thought he could be such an impact on someone's life before. It secretly scared him, especially since he'd been falling for her the entire time.

He peered down at his cell phone, looking at her high-lighted name, hidden against his leather notebook resting against the table; Brandt was hiding his phone from Hunley. When Hunley turned to face Brandt, he turned his phone over and placed it on the table as if he was listening to Hunley the whole time. He forced a smile at him. He looked up at the newsfeed on screen. He'd even become numb to world news. Every day there was something wrong with the world, and it was getting smaller and smaller. He remembered that she didn't like the news, but she had to watch it to see what was going on. But to Brandt, it was poison to the ears, and emotionally draining. The Chancellor of Austria had just been assassinated in a car bomb.

"In less than twenty-four hours, after we interviewed Benji Dunn about Ethan Hunt," Hunley continued. "He was on a plane to Vienna with tickets to the Opera, taking Miss Mason on a _lovely_ vacation, _again_."

Brandt couldn't help but smile.

"In less than six hours the Chancellor was dead. That might be circumstance to some public defender, but to the CIA that is _actionable_ intelligence," Hunley said, staring at the television screen.

Brandt blinked, and shook his head. "Sir, consider the moment of the possibility that Ethan's investigation _lead_ him to the Opera. And that he is the one with the _actual_ intelligence!"

"In _any_ case," Hunley's voice cut through the office. "Finding him is no longer a pet project. The Special Activities Division will now have _full_ discretion."

The color on Brandt's face fell, and his blood ran cold, as he sat there, words not so numb after all. "You mean shoot to kill," he said.

"Whether Hunt lives or dies, that's entirely up to him," Hunley said. "And I won't be accountable for another civilian casualty."

Hunley warned, and walked out of the office, leaving Brandt to stare after him. His blood ran cold in his veins as he sat there, words hanging in the air like fire and ash.

Brandt closed his book in his hand and tossed it on the desk. He leaned back in his seat, thoughts running through his head, running like haywire. He ran a nervous hand over his face, and took his phone in his hands and stared to dial Carolyn's number. He got up from his seat, and started to pace back and forth. "Come on….pick up, pick up…" he pleaded.

"This is Carolyn! Leave a message!"

Straight to voicemail.

"Damn it," Brandt whispered in mild anger. He tossed the phone on his desk and let out a slight growled sigh. He leaned his head back and paced back and forth, trying to think of what he could do.

Something wasn't right. And he was feeling sick to his stomach. He had to do something fast or Hunley was going to kill his friends.

~*MI*~

 **A/n: Awe…poor Brandt! Hope you guys like the chapter! More soon! Thank you so much for reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing!**


	14. Chapter 13: Missing Identities

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun, and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy! Thank you for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing!**

 **Chapter 13: Missing Identities**

Carolyn and Benji walked beside each other, following Ethan down the dark streets of Vienna. They headed toward what looked like a boat nestled beside the lake's docks. Across the lake, she could see the train bridge, and a train speeding by. She sighed. She felt utterly horrible and cold, and tired.

Her hair was a mess, she could barely walk in her own shoes, and she was freezing cold. Benji had offered her his jacket. She silently thanked him for the warmth of the jacket.

It appeared to be a boat house, a rather strange looking boat house, but Ethan opened up the heavy door and walked inside. Benji and Carolyn followed. Benji and Carolyn stayed upon the steps, as Benji flashed a light for Ethan when he got to the motor.

Ethan pulled on the motor and the boat's engine spluttered to life that turned every light on and made the steel walls suddenly disappear, changing into an entire office space.

Ethan lifted a hidden steel door up and left it against the lever for support. He pulled out the manifest.

Benji and Carolyn looked at it with curiosity twinkling in their eyes as Ethan took out a tool to fix it. Sparks flew in his face, and he jumped startled back. Carolyn stumbled backwards into Benji and she frowned, looking down as the staircase set lowered Benji and Carolyn down to floor level.

"You can let go now," he whispered.

Carolyn pulled her hand away from Benji's arm and retracted it back underneath Benji's jacket, crossing her arms over her chest as they walked inside; glancing around Ethan's little space of operation.

Ethan jumped down into the next room, and followed Benji and Carolyn inside another room that had been hiding behind the mini staircase.

Ethan turned on the lights and tables pulled out of their hidden spaces. Carolyn whirled around, in pure shock. She was just as shocked as Benji was. She took off her jacket and set it on the table just as Ethan pulled out several passports giving a packet to each of them.

Carolyn arched an eyebrow.

"New identity," Ethan said. "Figured Carolyn was bound to find us again at some point, just in case," he said, handing one to her. She smiled slightly as she listened to Ethan.

She took the passport in her hand and opened it up. It had Carolyn Mason's face on it, but with a new name and everything. She closed it back up and sighed.

"Passport, cash, move map," Ethan said. "Change of clothes in those bags right there, everything you need to make it to D.C. undetected," Ethan explained in a rush.

Benji and Carolyn looked at one another and then looked at the two bags one for each of them. There was a B and a C written in gold lettering on the edge of the bag.

Benji and Carolyn turned to face Ethan across the table. Ethan leaned his hands forward to explain how serious it was that what he was tracking was so dangerous and he didn't want to involve them anymore than they already were. Not to mention Brandt would kill Ethan if he found out Carolyn had somehow managed to find her way to Europe again.

"Once you're there, you'll have to inform on me," Ethan said. "The pair of you," Ethan looked over to Carolyn.

Carolyn looked up with horror stricken in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, what?" Benji stammered at the same time that Carolyn shook her head.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said.

"Tell the truth," Ethan said, glancing between Benji and Carolyn with frantic and piercing eyes. "And yes you are. I'd feel much safer if you were with Brandt. You two are just going to have to work out your differences. Maybe Benji can lock you two in a closet."

Carolyn rolled her eyes.

"Now, listen to me; you came to Vienna believing you won two tickets to the Opera, and took your friend Carolyn with you who needed an escape from her troubled relationship. And I attempted to recruit you to assonate the Chancellor. Miss Mason saw us and we kidnapped her…."

"That is _not_ the truth," Benji said.

"You're _lives_ depend on it," Ethan said. "I believe in you Benji, and you," Ethan looked over at Carolyn.

She looked into his deep chocolate brown eyes and she gulped.

"It would be easier if you tell them what you want to hear," Ethan said.

Carolyn frowned.

"Ethan, at least tell us what this is all about," Benji said, sharing a look with Carolyn. She nodded.

"It's time to clue me in, Ethan," Carolyn said. "I'm a big girl. I can handle it."

Ethan eyed her up and down. She had a fiery look of determination in her eyes, even though she looked drastically tired in her purple silk gown that seemed particularly askew. Her make-up was dark and her hair was a wavy mess around her shoulders. But no matter what Ethan would say to her, she was just as stubborn as Benji.

"Please?" Carolyn said softly.

Ethan let out a sigh, and he pushed away from the table. He turned away from their pleading looks. Ethan grabbed his clicker and pointed over to the wall that suddenly lit up in blue lights. Two computers turned on with a thousand faces on the screen. "You recognize anyone?" Ethan asked.

Several pictures came up, and Carolyn tilted her head to the side to see the flipping pictures on the screen. She crossed her arms over her chest, watching with wide eyes. .

The profile picture finally landed on a man who looked fierce. He had high cheekbones, an oval-shaped face, dark eyes, and short hair.

"Him," Benji pointed.

"He's former KSA, German Intelligence. Missing, presumed dead," Ethan said.

Benji turned around to face him and Carolyn. "He was at the Opera tonight," Benji concluded.

Ethan nodded.

"This one too," Ethan said.

Another picture showed a man with dark eyes, blonde hair pushed forward with a bit of a round face, almost oval. "Former Mossad,"

"Let me guess, presumed dead," Benji said.

"Tonight, I made it official," Ethan explained.

The faces disappeared. A world map appeared on the second screen, along with Ethan's rough sketch of Solomon Lane, glasses perched on his nose. His eyes looked hollow.

"I was looking for him," Ethan said. "I thought he'd left breadcrumbs in Jamaica to Brazil," Ethan said, looking over to Carolyn.

Carolyn arched an eyebrow at Ethan, sharing a small, yet questionable look with him.

"But, turns out your Mr. Blair, former CIA, was just a peg in my obstacle course," Ethan said.

"Sorry to disappoint," Carolyn said a rueful tone. She gave him a wry look.

"The Mayor of Port Royal's mansion burned to the ground with him inside, throwing me across the globe to try to find him," Ethan pointed to the sketch of Ethan's mystery terrorist.

"By the time he fled the city, he'd fled down in South America, and was already gone by the time you took Blair down, which caused a city riot," Ethan continued. He glanced at Carolyn, who furrowed her brows, looking at Charlie Blair's picture on screen. Ethan tore it down and the screen moved across the globe in the Middle East and Istanbul.

"Leaving me here," he said, flipping the screen to Malawi. "The same day a car accident killed a President visiting Malawi.

Ethan clicked the screen to change to a different part of the world, showing Jakarta. "He slipped away again in Jakarta, hours before a passenger plane vanished over the Pacific, with two-hundred and thirty-six passengers," Ethan said.

"I just missed him in the Philippines," Ethan continued as Benji and Carolyn looked at the screen, eyeing the different photographs of the disasters across the world's map. "Right before the fire at a Petrol Chemical Plant, governing a village of two thousand people."

Carolyn could see it. It was like a puzzle across the map. Benji turned around, pointing at the screen. "You're saying these accidents are some how connected?"

Ethan clicked another window open, revealing a newspaper on the screen in black and white with headlines that read _ANOTHER ONE VANISHES, where is flight 606?_

"That same plane was carrying a secretary of the world bank," Ethan said.

"Did he not see the other passengers on the plane?" Carolyn asked in a small whisper.

Ethan shook his head, eyeing her curiously, as he faced the screen.

"That fire erupted a global arms corporation," Ethan said.

Another newspaper clipping appeared on screen and Carolyn leaned her elbows against the table, reading the title in big bold letters, _ARMS CORP DISSOLVES, Death Toll Climbs in Wake of Chemical Disaster._

"That wreck triggered a civil war," Ethan said, choosing another news paper clipping.

PRIME MINISTER URGES

CALM AFTER PRESIDENT

KILLED IN CAR ACCIDENT

It was an image of war underneath the titles.

Benji looked down and looked up at Ethan for an explanation. It sounded legit, but at the same time, they could still just be coincidences.

"These are no accidents," Ethan said. "They're links in a chain, the work of a single organization: the Syndicate."

Carolyn's head bopped up at the Syndicate's name leaving Ethan's lips. Her eyes widened at each word that left his lips.

"A rogue nation," Ethan continued. "Trained to do what we do with a new sense of purpose: _destroy_ the system that created them. _Regardless_ of who's in the way."

"An anti-IMF," Benji said. Carolyn arched an eyebrow at Benji and Ethan, and ran a nervous hand over her wavy locks, shaking her nerves down to the best she could.

"Ever since Hunley shut us down they have been escalating, _unchecked_. Killing the Chancellor tonight was a statement. It started a new phase," Ethan said.

"Or they could be just a series of random disasters," Benji said with a look of uncertainty written in his features.

Carolyn looked over and joined Benji, "Yes, _random_ disasters. They happen all the time in the news."

"That never stops you from traveling the globe," Ethan said, eyeing her curiously.

"I try to live in the moment," Carolyn said.

"Says the girl who's running away from her current problems back on home soil," Benji mumbled under his breath. Carolyn cast Benji a silent glare.

Ethan shook his head. "He was _there_ ," Ethan said.

Benji looked into Ethan's determined glint in his eyes that almost looked borderline obsession. He looked at Carolyn, who was shaking her head. Well, to a civilian they would look like normal random disasters, but to Benji, and as a friend of Ethan, they seemed real. Very real. If Ethan saw this guy at the Opera, maybe he wasn't crazy after all.

"Every time," Ethan continued, pacing around Benji and Carolyn. They turned to face him and Carolyn crossed her arms. "Just like he was there tonight. I'm sure of it."

"I don't know who he is, where he's from, how he's funded," Ethan said, walking toward the picture. "But I _know_ he's the key."

Carolyn chewed her bottom lip nervously.

"Ethan! This is what I signed up for!" Benji chimed in happily. "Let me help you find him."

"That's why I brought you here in the _first_ place and look what happened," Ethan said, voice raising high in the room. "I can't protect you and Carolyn. That's why I need you two to leave."

Carolyn furrowed her brows and frowned.

"That's not your decision to make Ethan!" Benji said, anger seeping out of him.

"I am a field agent! I know the risks! More than that I am your friend! No matter what I tell the polygraph every week," Benji said. "Now you called me because you needed _my_ help and you _still_ do. So I am _staying_ , and that is _all_ we are going to stay about that."

"Okay," Ethan said after a moment of shocked silence in the room. Ethan pointed to Carolyn. "Can I at least send her home?"

Carolyn shook her head. She glared at him, staring daggers. She was fuming too.

"No, no, calm… Carolyn, you can stay, _if_ you _want_ to stay," Ethan stammered, holding his hands in defense.

Carolyn nodded. "I _want_ to stay," she said, stepping closer to Ethan, who backed slightly away, unsure of what she was capable of, aside from her gymnastics background.

Benji cleared his throat, "Good," he said. "Where do we start?"

Ethan smiled at Carolyn and Benji, finally happy that they were helping Ethan with his mission. He had just the person in mind. "Ilsa," Ethan said. He turned to the screen.

Ilsa's sketch came up on screen. Benji and Carolyn joined on either side of Ethan. "Right, and how do we find her?" Benji asked.

"Well, women who were spies, and used to keep secrets back in the olden days, never kissed and never told," Carolyn said.

Ethan and Benji looked at her and Ethan smiled. "She said we have everything we need." Ethan held the lipstick to Benji.

Benji took it and opened it up to reveal a dark brown with a hint of red shade color tint to the lipstick.

Carolyn rolled her eyes, and took the lipstick from Benji. She closed it up and unscrewed the bottom that turned into a flash thumb drive at the bottom of it.

Ethan and Benji smirked knowingly. Bingo.

~*MI*~

Solomon Lane heard a knock at the door. He was seated at a round table in the middle of a fancy suite with guards at every angle. The Bone Doctor opened up the door, and glared at who was present. Ilsa Faust.

She walked inside and saw that Solomon Lane was not alone. She noticed a small frame of legs that belonged to a woman who was resting on the brown leather chair beside the window. Behind Lane, she could see her wrists were clamped tight, turning red due to the plastic wire around her small wrists, and her face was covered by a black pillow case.

Ilsa walked over to the middle of the room, still in her evening gown from the Opera house.

The man behind her pushed her forward. She glared behind her and stepped forward, listening to the small whimpers coming from Solomon's mystery woman beside him.

Ilsa suddenly spun around, grabbed a hold onto the guy's shoulder and threw her right leg over the other shoulder, so she could climb over his neck, sitting upon his broad shoulders, twisting his neck slightly but not killing him between her legs, and knocking him down on the floor in an instant. Ilsa held his neck there, as the one guard behind Lane and the mystery woman took out his gun to aim at her. She took his gun from him and held up her hands in the air, glaring at him.

"We had an agreement," Ilsa said, walking forward to Solomon, who looked at her with amused eyes through his spectacles. "You send me to do a job; I _do_ it, but my way, _not_ yours."

"When did I deviate?" he asked, placing his book and pen on the table beside his other various items in front of him.

" _One_ of them tried to kill me," Ilsa said, clearly upset.

"You missed," Solomon said.

"I missed because Ethan Hunt was there looking for you," Ilsa said.

"Ethan Hunt's in Vienna because you allowed him to escape in London," Solomon Lane said.

"Vinter would have _killed_ him and that's not what you asked for," Ilsa said.

"Twice now, you let him slip away," Solomon said. "Curious."

"Are you questioning my loyalty or my ability?" Ilsa asked.

"Can't decide," he said.

"I've told you before. _Trust_ me, or _kill_ me," Ilsa said defiantly. "But if you're going to kill me, be a man," she tossed him the gun across the desk that toppled his dipped spoon over its side. "Do it yourself."

Solomon reached for the gun and pointed it directly at Ilsa then moved it slightly behind her and killed the guard standing in the room. Ilsa jumped.

Ilsa looked down and then back up into Solomon's eyes, gulping silently, trying to hold her emotions down.

He stood up and placed the gun carefully onto the table cloth with a loud thud. The other man with a dark beard, standing beside Solomon watched with wide eyes. He looked over at the girl to make sure she hadn't moved a muscle. Her head still rested on the leather armrest.

He took out his white cloth and wiped his hands, tossing the cloth on the table as he walked over to Ilsa.

"Did he say anything?" Solomon asked.

"He knows about Morocco," Ilsa said.

"What does he know about Morocco?" Solomon looked down on her.

"He knows about the pavilions," she replied, staring directly ahead of her. "He _doesn't_ know what's in it."

"Find him please," Solomon said.

"He'll find me," Ilsa said, turning her head to face him. "I have to seen to that."

~*MI*~

"Well, that's interesting," Benji said, back inside the safe house. He'd been deciphering the codes, while Carolyn had time to change out of her outfit. Ethan and Benji still remained in their tuxes, searching anything they could find about this guy.

"What is it?" Ethan asked.

She came out of the mini-restroom, feeling much more relaxed, and sighed, placing her bag back on the table where Benji typed away on his laptop. She took out a brush from her bag and started to brush her hair, standing beside him as she curiously watched him work his magic on the keyboard of his laptop.

He looked up at her and smiled, nice to see her a bit more into her own clothes rather than someone else's like the last mission.

She was dressed in dark brown khaki's, a brown spaghetti strap top, with a brown leather jacket that flared out, showing how comfortable and warm she looked. Brown was definitely Carolyn's color.

"It's a SCIF," Benji said.

"What's a SCIF?" Carolyn said, putting her brush down. She pulled her wavy curls around her shoulders.

"Secure Computer Facility," Benji replied. "Offline, ultra-contained, it's impossible to hack into from the outside."

Carolyn looked at the computer screen that Ethan was looking at and listening to Benji at the same time.

"It's essentially, a little safety deposit box," Benji clarified. Benji looked over at Carolyn. "Very strange thing for a lady to be carrying in her sundries."

Carolyn nodded in agreement.

"Where's it located?" Ethan asked.

"Uh," Benji narrowed his eyes at the computer screen. "Morocco."

Carolyn blinked and looked up from her bag as she placed her brush back inside with the rest of her things.

"Morocco?" Carolyn asked curiously.

Ethan grinned back at them, "Morocco."

 **~*MI*~**

 **A/n: Yay! We're almost to Morocco you guys! I really hope you're liking this so far! I don't know about you guys but I'm so nervous for Carolyn!**


	15. Chapter 14: Casablanca

**A/n: So I hope we're all excited that we're now in Casablanca, Morocco! Thank you all for reading. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun, and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Chapter 14: Casablanca**

 **Casablanca,  
** **Morocco**

The desert was surreal. Never in a million years had Carolyn ever been to a deserted place like Morocco. She'd heard about it in stories and she'd even seen Casablanca the movie with Humphrey Bogart. Long had she dreamt of being in a movie like Casablanca. She always loved the romance between the main character and the female lead. It was always so magical to her. She even thought she found herself a romantic interest in real life…but that was another story best save for a rainy day, not like today that was hot with a bright sun shining down on their backs as they walked into the small town of Casablanca and toward the very back. They trudged further in a narrow space between clay-made buildings and meandered their way through a herd of sheep. Benji twirled around, waving them away.

Carolyn chewed her bottom lip when the three of them stopped at a wooden door, closed with a message tacked to the front door, a white envelope with a red lipstick stain. "Hmm," she commented lightly, brushing a wavy strand of hair that had fallen out of her long ponytail behind her back. She placed her hand back onto the strap of her bag that was criss-crossed across her body. Ethan and Benji had finally changed out of their tuxes as they were trying to stay incognito with sunglasses on.

Ethan took the envelope off the door and placed it inside his jacket pocket. He pushed the door open and walked inside followed by Carolyn and Benji.

They walked through an interesting alcove-like hallway that lead them inside a living area with sliding glass doors that were open and led to an outside pool that looked very modern in Carolyn's eyes.

Tables and chairs displayed on the patio with a towel currently hanging on the back of one of the whicker chairs. Plants strewn across the pool that looked very inviting.

Unbeknownst to Ilsa, Ethan, Benji and Carolyn were standing right behind her when she popped out of the pool, glancing at her wrist timer that read 1:57…1:58. She had a look of disappointment on her face and licked her lips, letting herself breathe for a moment. She couldn't do it. She realized. She just had to try again…. She turned around only to find Ethan, Benji, and Carolyn staring at her with mild interest in their eyes.

Ilsa smiled at them.

Carolyn did not miss the fact that Ilsa was quite gorgeous, sporting in a black bikini. She looked over at Ethan and Benji and just rolled her eyes when Ilsa walked out of the pool. "Men," Carolyn whispered under her breath.

Benji cocked a brow at Carolyn, tilting his head at her, but didn't say anything.

Ethan handed Ilsa her towel. "And what brings you gentlemen to Casablanca?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"And woman," Carolyn added.

Ilsa smirked at Carolyn before she rested her eyes on Ethan. Ethan took out her lipstick from his pocket and showed her. Ilsa looked at it with a knowing smile across her face as she dabbed the water droplets away from her face.

~MI~

Washington D.C…

Brandt pulled his car up to the airstrip as a black helicopter lowered itself down on the platform. He sighed, and loosened his grip on the wheel before he took the file in the passenger seat beside him. He got out of the car and walked over to the helicopter where an old friend of Ethan's climbed out of it dressed in leather jacket, not looking too pleased that he had to be here. He tightened his grip on his leather bag beside him, and brown fedora hat in the other hand.

Brandt drew in a sharp breath, and walked over to him. Luther Stickell. Luther was an old friend of Ethan's back in the old spy days. Brandt had been combing through Ethan's old files, hoping to find anyone of his past that would be useful with his current situation. He'd hoped that with Stickell's abilities as a former agent, he could help Brandt locate Ethan, Benji, and Carolyn before Hunley did.

"Good to see ya," Brandt said, clapping him a friendly pat on the back.

"What couldn't you tell me over the phone?" Luther asked over the spinning noise of the helicopter's motor blades.

Brandt glanced behind him before he started to reply, "Chancellor of Austria was assassinated. We believe that Ethan, Benji, and Carolyn were there."

"The FOC is with them?" he asked.

"Former," he corrected Luther. Luther arched an eyebrow. "But yes." Brandt swallowed hard and nodded. "Hunley's handed us over the Special Activities Division. We need to find Ethan before they do, and that's where you come in."

By the time Brandt finished explaining the situation on home soil, the helicopter had left them alone.

Luther glanced at Brandt and shook his head, placing his hat on top of his bald head. "Not interested," he said.

"Okay, look, Luther…" Brandt said, placing his hand within his pocket as he looked down ready to try to talk him into it.

"Look man," Luther cut him off. "I _know_ Ethan. I don't know you," he said, shaking his head. "All I know about you is you chose to work for Hunley."

Brandt glanced sideways before he faced Luther, "Yeah, and all I know about you is that you chose to resign."

Luther chuckled lightly, smiling a bit. "Man, you don't have to worry about Ethan. They'll never catch him."

Brandt suddenly had a very serious look on his face. "They're not going to catch him. No, this is the CIA, this is Hunley we're talking about, things are out of control. No, they're going to _kill_ him," he said, and Luther's smile swept off his face as he listened to Brandt. "They're going to kill Ethan, they're going to kill Benji, and they're going to kill…" his throat tightened, unable to imagine it. The worst part is, is that he could imagine it very clearly in his head but he didn't want to. He didn't want them to kill Ethan, Benji, or…Carolyn. She could get caught in the crossfire when and if the CIA ever caught up with Ethan and he couldn't let that happen.

"We have to get to them first," Brandt said finally. "Are you going to help me?"

Luther eyed Brandt with his careful brown eyes. He stepped forward, towering over him. Brandt tried to stare him down, keeping him eye level, trying to stay cool.

"You need to understand something," Luther said. Brandt nodded and Luther continued, "Ethan is my friend. And if I have one second of doubt on who's side your on, including that little girlfriend of yours…hmm…" he warned dangerously.

Brandt looked at Luther into his warning glare on his face. Brandt eyed him up and down before he nodded his head in agreement. "I believe you."

"Alright?" Luther asked.

"Alright," Brandt replied.

"What do I have to go on?" Luther asked.

"Not much," Brandt said. Brandt opened up his manila file folder in his hand and showed two sketches of a man in glasses and a woman that Luther was already looking at in particular. "And not a lot of time."

~*MI*~

 **Casablanca,**

 **Morocco**

"His name is Solomon Lane," Ilsa said. Ethan, Benji and Carolyn had settled right into her safe house. It was a beautiful house that made Carolyn feel so at home with its lavish furniture and sleek decorations adorned on every nook and cranny. It was so beautiful. She could definitely live here. "He created the Syndicate."

Carolyn was seated at the dining room table right diagonally across from Ilsa, while Benji stood staring outside at the window, and Ethan was listening to her side of the story.

"Where does he come from?" Ethan asked.

Ilsa looked down at the lipstick she twirled in her hands. "He's former British Intelligence," she said, glancing back up at Ethan.

Ethan leaned off against the wall, while Benji turned to face her, "Well if British Intelligence knows the Syndicate exists why don't they just tell the CIA?"

Carolyn thought that was a good point but Ethan stepped forward with an answer, "But they don't want anyone knowing that the Syndicate was created by one of their own. He leaned his arms against the chair in front of Carolyn and looked to Ilsa.

"I was sent undercover to earn Lane's trust," Ilsa said. "And eventually identify the members of his organization. And for the first time in two years, I'm close to knowing who they are."

Carolyn leaned back in her seat and furrowed her brows.

Ilsa brought her hands together and leaned her elbows upward toward her chin. "Lane had a ledger. It contained the identities of his operatives, his terrorist associates, the entire inner-workings of the Syndicate," she explained.

Carolyn's ears peeked with interest as Ilsa spoke, and looked at the woman with frightened eyes. She chewed her bottom lip and swallowed hard.

"One of his agents stole it, hoping to black mail him, and kept it in a secure computer facility for safe keeping," Ilsa said.

Ethan shared a look with Benji across the room.

"He died being interrogated for the access code," Ilsa said. "Leaving Lane with a serious problem."

"So the key to crushing Lane is sitting in a computer just waiting for someone to take it?" Ethan asked.

"So," Benji drawled. "Why hasn't Lane just sent someone to steal it?" Benji asked the question that was on everyone's minds.

"Oh, he has," Ilsa said. "He sent…me. And I can tell you, it's impossible."


	16. Chapter 15: Helpless

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 15: Helpless**

The black pillow case lifted off of Carolyn's head and light pierced her closed eyes. She was breathing out of fear as panic swelled within her heart and overtook her like an anxiety driven tidal wave flowing through her body as if she were ready to burst.

She tried to move, but her wrists were tied against plastic wires, and her ankles were biting into the legs of the chair that she sat upon. She tightened her fists tight until she felt her knuckles white.

The room was eerily silent, and all she could hear was a sound of quiet breathing in front of her. He was near her. She could smell his grumpy old scent intoxicating her nostrils that made her dizzy. She didn't want to open her eyes, she was too afraid to see what he would look like. She heard the name roll around everyone's tongues in the room when they walked in and out of wherever she was. She had been given water daily and the opportunity to at least use the lady's room with one guard at her door.

Now, here she was ready to face this man named Solomon Lane, and she was terrified.

"You can open you're eyes," the accent curled in her ears, and made her shiver uncontrollably. "I welcome your eyes to see me for who I really am."

"A monster," Carolyn managed to whisper.

Lane's lips pursed to the side with amusement. He scooted his chair closer to her and Carolyn let out a small whimper as he became mere inches from her face. Every nerve on her skin pricked and prodded as the fear swelled deep within her heart.

His lips were mere inches from the shell curve of her small and delicate ear. "I don't think so," he said, curling his cool fingers against her chin to force her face closer toward him. He brushed a gentle finger against her smooth skin. His eyes glossed over as if he was in heaven with her soft skin underneath his rough pads of his fingers, making Carolyn shiver at the unfamiliar touch. "I can understand why Gina would be jealous of your beauty," he said, index finger curling a strand of her hair over the curved shell of her ear.

Carolyn tried to move her head away, but he gripped it tight. She darted her eyes quickly toward him in a dark and dangerous glare. He gripped her chin tighter until his fingernails dug into her skin, ripping it slightly open just enough to accidentally draw a thick slither of blood from the open piece of skin. She cried out in burning pain "I'm _trying_ to be gentle," he said.

He was calm, cool and collective in a very unnerving manner. "Just the way you prefer it"

Carolyn's breaths deepened as she tried to struggle against him while he coaxed her to try and remain calm under his firm but gentle touch against her skin. She tried not to let out an audible cry that was forcing to come out of her throat.

"Just kill me," she whispered. She was so tired, and so tired of trying to fight everything that she'd worked hard on only for it to be ripped out from underneath her within a blink of an eye. There was no use of living now, not when she couldn't even think for herself anymore.

"I need you alive," Lane said. "It would be impossible to complete the mission when you are dead."

Carolyn's lips curled into a frown, and she dared to open her eyes, turning to face his cold and dark eyes.

"What mission?" she asked, trying to keep her tears inside as she felt warm red blood trickle down from Lane's incision from his fingernail by her lips.

Lane smiled and placed his lips closer to her ear. She shivered and tried to struggle against her restraints, but his hand placed pressed hard onto her thigh and she couldn't help but automatically cry in fear as he held her in place. She closed her eyes tight and tried to keep from screaming at the strange tingling sensation that ran in her body.

"In due time," Lane said. "Ethan Hunt will do anything to save a friend, and I have a friend in particular who will join you soon enough when the right moment presents itself. Gina will then provide me with details of their operation, and manipulate his team into thinking that she is you, when you are here with me, enjoying the gorgeous and old European city view, just like you've always wanted."

Carolyn swallowed hard.

"I must say," Lane continued. "I am extremely interested in your potential for living this long, will all the obstacles thrown at you. I'm curious…" he said. "To see how long you live after your friends have died."

"I don't understand," Carolyn said slowly. "What did I do to deserve this?" she asked.

"Ask Gina when she's killed Agent Brandt," Lane said.

Carolyn widened her eyes, letting the panic overwhelm her as she looked at him, and watched him try to clean the blood that dripped onto her leg. She was still dressed in Gina's black dress from the night she was taken from Vienna, from Benji and Ethan. Her heart ached, wishing she was there with them, safe and protected. They wouldn't let anything happen to her. She'd gotten caught out of her own stupidity and now Gina was in place of her for whatever reason that Carolyn had to try and remember. She'd done a lot of stupid things in the past, but what had she done to piss Gina off so much to do this to her?

Lane took out a white cloth from his inside jacket pocket and dabbed the mark he made in a gentle manner. She ripped her chin away from him and looked the other way to the carpet beneath her feet and chair. He wiped the blood away until it stopped bleeding, and with the plain side of his cloth he wiped the blood away from her thigh until she stopped shivering at his frightful touch.

He scooted the chair back to his table. He stood up from his seat and walked over to turn her chair to face her foreign view. He leaned close to hear ear with a smile on his face, as he looked at the architecture of the buildings that stretched down the cobblestone streets. "There, that's better, hmm?" he asked. He smiled, spun in a turn on his heel, walked back to his table, and picked up his leather writing book. He turned to finish his notes with what he'd written down on the pages. He picked up one of the hostile tools in front of him, and looked at it with curiosity.

When she knew Lane wasn't looking, tears welled inside her eyes, and fell down her cheeks, feeling every bit of her heart break in pieces. She stared blankly outside her foreign view and swallowed hard, letting the pain she felt inside of her overwhelm her to the point where she just became numb. It was like she was screaming for help, asking for anyone to help her, but no one was going to help her because no one knew she was here. She was alone and she was helpless and she had to figure out why Gina was ruining her life.

 **~*MI*~**

 **A/n: Ah, thank you for the reviews, follows, and favorites! I love reviews and I hope you liked!**


	17. Chapter 16: Pressure Points

**Enjoy! Thank you so much for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I just own my OC.**

 **Chapter 16: Pressure Points**

 **Casablanca,  
Morocco **

Benji had set up the plans Ilsa had in her USB data drive. He loaded up the entire information block of files onto the projection screen inside the living room so that they could go over the plans of the Taurus. Carolyn and Ilsa sat on the couch on each end, lying on a set of pillows.

"The facility is hidden beneath the local power plant and military guard," Ilsa said, as the picture spun around. "And the only way to download the ledger is through the central computer panel located there," she pointed to the side of the facility.

Benji and Ethan stood on their feet, watching the screen twirl around at all angles.

Carolyn's eyes slanted to the right of the screen, and smirked.

"To reach the terminal, you'll need to pass the main gate," Ilsa continued to explain how to hack into the facility. "Access the elevator thumb print recognition,"

As she spoke, Carolyn imagined herself driving the car through the gates as a military man checked her out to make sure she was who she says she was an employee who worked there.

"And open up three separate combination locks," Ilsa said.

"That sounds complicated," Carolyn mumbled, hugging one of Ilsa's pillows in her arms.

"Nah, that's easy," Benji said, turning to Carolyn. "We just impersonate the agent who stole the ledger and I get to wear a mask."

"Why do _you_ get to wear a mask?" Carolyn asked with a small pout on her face.

"Because the agent's male," Ilsa said, casting a glance over at Carolyn's direction.

"Bingo," Benji said with a grin on his face.

"You're imagining it aren't you?" Carolyn asked him, as Benji had the utmost dreamy look on his face when he imagined Ethan placing the mask over him and Ilsa looking at Benji with a smile on her face.

"Unfortunately, even _if_ you can make it through every security measure, you won't beat the last one. That's because it's protected by gate analysis that goes beyond facial recognition. These cameras actually know how the agent walks, how he talks, how he moves, right down to his facial ticks."

Carolyn just pictured Benji getting hit at all different sides of his body and his mask pulled off with two men holding his arms, busted.

"So, what you're saying is no mask can beat it," Benji said and Carolyn looked up at him with nervous eyes as he pointed to the screen. "We're busted before we can even get into the vault and I wind up in a Moroccan jail playing Mummies and Daddies with a stranger. Okay, so I don't get to wear a mask."

"And there's no other way into the computer lab," Ethan said.

"No other way in," Ilsa said.

"Air shaft," Ethan said, pacing around behind Benji.

"Six feet diameter pipe," Ilsa said.

"Foundation," Benji said, glancing down at her.

"Twelve feet of concrete top and bottom," Ilsa replied, relaxing her arm across the sofa's edge. She looked at the boys.

Benji and Ethan looked at each other, "Electrical conduit."

"There's no other way into that terminal unless your profile is preinstalled the security system," Ilsa said.

Benji let out an agonizing groan and buried his face within the palm of his hand, walking away trying to think of something else.

"Profile?" Ethan asked. "Where are the profiles stored?" he looked up at the screen and with Benji's tablet in his arms he moved the picture screen another angle.

"All security data is secured offline in the liquid cooler-ray," Benji said.

Carolyn twisted her lips to the side.

"Here, inside the Taurus," Benji pointed to the middle of the liquid room.

"You mean that thing is under water?" Ethan said, blinking in shock.

"Yes," Benji, and Ilsa said at the same time.

"Carolyn, don't suppose you have synchronized swimming under your belt?" Ethan asked.

Carolyn gave Ethan a sympathetic look of a frown and shook her head. "Sorry, no," she said.

"Okay," Ethan said and blinked in thought. "So to get the ledger, one of us needs to enter the Taurus and change the security profile so that the other one can access the computer without being caught. That's the only way," he said, turning to Ilsa.

"That's the _only_ way," Ilsa emphasized.

Ethan looked up at the picture where a red light highlighted over a door.

"Can I get in through there? What's that?" he asked.

"That's the service hatch," Ilsa said. "It can only be opened from the inside. If you try to open it from the outside you would get hit with seventy-thousand gallons of pressurized water.

"Where does the water come from?" Ethan asked.

"The salinezed seawater comes through the intake, through the pavilion, and before you ask the system decides to shut down automatically before any metal enters the intake," Ilsa turned around to face Ethan.

Ethan turned to face her. "No oxygen tanks," he said.

She gave him a rueful look with a nod of her head.

"Alright, well how long will it take to free swim from the intake to the service hatch?" Benji asked.

"Two minutes with its current at full power," Ilsa replied.

"Then you just have to hold your breath for two minutes," Benji said as if it were no big deal.

Carolyn arched an eyebrow and turned to face Ethan.

"What about installing the security profile?" Ethan asked.

"Well," Benji said, looking at the picture on the screen. "That's going to be like a minute tops."

Carolyn chewed her bottom lip nervously. Were they insane? They were _that_ mad to go after a ledger of the complete list of the Syndicate agents inside a fully pressurized liquid container?!

"So, I have to hold my breath for three minutes," Ethan calculated out loud.

"You can do that," Benji said.

"The thing you're overlooking is the physical exertion," Ilsa reminded them. "The more you exert yourself, the faster you'll consume oxygen."

"No pressure," Carolyn muttered.

Ethan looked down at her. "No pun intended, I swear," she said.

"Don't worry about him, alright?" Benji said, looking at Ilsa and Carolyn. He pointed to Ethan. "All he has to do is insert the fake profile before I get to the gate analysis. You said it yourself, it's the only way. That doesn't sound impossible," he said with a slight chuckle out of his mouth.

Ethan closed his mouth shut, keeping his worries to himself as he and Ilsa shared a look with each other. Benji and Carolyn looked at one another as she chewed her bottom lip. It may not be impossible to them, but it sure as hell sounded crazy.

~*MI*~

 **Washington D.C.**

Phones buzzed around the room as agents in dark suits answered them for any tips on Ethan Hunt, Benji Dunn, and Carolyn Mason. Three wanted people. Brandt sighed, and ran one of his large hands over his face, trying to smooth out his tired features. He wasn't getting any sleep. He was too worried, too stressed, keeping it all inside of him. He missed her. He missed Carolyn so much. He didn't even care about the Blair incident, he just wanted to see her, and hold her again in his arms. He was right to bring Luther Stickell in. Luther knew Ethan like no one else. Luther Stickell was on the scene, researching the two sketches Ethan sent over to Brandt, while Brandt watched Hunley talk to an agent. The screen from top to bottom showed the map of the world, in which Brandt was sure that Hunley was using just to hunt them down.

"Satellite over-watch covering all continents, DNA profiling," Brandt said as he looked down the room through the glass window of his new office. He could tell you how many times he'd been moved around the CIA facility with Agent Hunley just because he was looking for a man he thought was a menace to society. Ethan was not a menace. Ethan was a good man, and he would protect Benji and Carolyn, and not let anything happen to them. Brandt thought, biting his lip as it crossed his mind. He could only hope that they were alright, but something in his heart told him that something was wrong.

On three separate computers, Ethan Hunt, Benji Dunn and Carolyn Mason's faces were being high-lighted and profiled by three different agents.

"Drone surveillance, drone strikes," Brandt said. "So how are we supposed to find Ethan, Benji, and Carolyn before they do?"

"I'm not even looking for them, I'm looking for her," Luther said as the computer scanned over the sketch of the woman thanks to Ethan.

Her picture profile came up onto the screen and Brandt turned around to look over Luther's shoulder. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"These sketches," Luther said. "What do you see?"

Brandt took a closer look at the drawings, and drew the gentleman with the glasses closer toward him. "Ethan's not exactly sure who this guy is, but this woman," Brandt said, picking up the woman's sketch in his hand. "He knows her."

"He _trusts_ her," Luther said with wide eyes, turning to face Brandt. "I'm betting that if he's not already with her, he's on his way. Find her, find Ethan."

"Tell me it's possible to pull recognition from a sketch," Brandt said.

"For mere mortals no," Luther said. "For me? I could have done this at home."

"Alright," Brandt said with a light chuckle, as he patted Luther's shoulder. He walked by him and overlooked the window down below the Special Activities Division room.

As he looked down, Hunley looked up at him with a straight laced look on his face. Brandt gave him a nod, and a tight smile indicating that he was working on it.

"How long is it going to take?" Brandt asked.

"Found her," Luther said with a loud click of his mouse. "CCTV picked her up at the airport in Casablanca."

The photo of the young woman was a match, and a certificate with her profile appeared next to the screen shot of the airport on screen as Brandt peered over Luther's shoulder with pure interest in his eyes.

Her profile was classified and on alert. S.I.S.

Disavowed.

"What the _hell_?" Brandt inquired, blinking at the message on the screen.

"She's bad news," Luther said.


	18. Chapter 17: Underwater Torus

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 17: Underwater Taurus**

Carolyn Mason stood in front of a floor length mirror and stared at the dress Gina had forced her to wear. She was no longer wearing her one-of-a-kind dress that made her feel so beautiful. And here, she had been given her a set of formal clothes from Gina's suit case.

Carolyn didn't want to wear her clothes. She wanted her _own_ clothes. She wanted to be back home in her own bed, in her own home…that probably wasn't even her home anymore since it was a sign lease under Gina's name.

The clothes that Lane wanted her to wear were a black pant suit. She even had a two-tone pair of shoes with a bright red pop color underneath the soles of the high-heels.

She stripped out of Gina's black dress, and was allowed to shower off the dirt and grime that had covered on her from head to toe for the past seventy-two hours she'd been captured. Lane liked to remind her how long it's been since her capture in Vienna. The red marks stained on her small wrists. It was weird to be in a setting where a monster allowed you to shower, but Lane was a weird person. Carolyn was trying to figure him out the best way she could, but it was hot and cold.

She pulled her went strands of hair out and dried her hair with a towel. She'd climbed out of the shower and looked at her face in the mirror. She still had the cut on her lip from the Kremlin that was barely visible but she could feel it every time she touched her bottom lip with the soft pad of her thumb. The new mark on her face no thanks to Lane was there, ever so haunting.

And now here she was standing in the floor length mirror, tightening her jacket over her body, leaving a bit of cleavage to show…not like she had a choice. All that was in the bag were necessary items and the pant suit. It made her feel even more naked, and she didn't like that. She sighed, and pulled her hair into a ballerina bun. She blinked at herself in the mirror. Lane had told her to look presentable for their daily breakfast date. She didn't know what that meant considering she didn't feel one hundred percent presentable in a pant suit that barely covered her front chest. She felt embarrassed.

She chewed her bottom lip. The door opened to reveal one of his men. He was tall with dark hair, and clean cut. He had a beard, freshly clean and nice looking on him. If he wasn't working for evil, Carolyn might've just considered to go out with him on a date, but personality always outwitted looks in Carolyn's mind, although the attractiveness on a man did help a bit, she wouldn't deny that, especially Brandt's. She sighed and frowned. Her heart ached for him so much. She couldn't believe what an idiot she'd been in the past, and now she wondered if things will ever be the same.

She was trying to think of anything else than her current situation right now. She didn't want to think Lane was going to do to her today. Was he going to psychologically warp her mind, or was he going to do something worse?

She drew in a small breath, and suddenly wished she wasn't alone. Gina was out there manipulating her team. Her friends. Her whole life. And all for what? She and Gina went way back than what most people realize. They were in gymnastics competition together. All Carolyn remembered was that Gina disappeared after the competition finals and was never heard again until she met her at her new job in Seattle….thanks to Ethan. Ethan had given her the job. Did Ethan do a profile on Gina before hand? He would have, she knew that. He would have done a profile on her and scope out the whole place just to make sure it was an okay place to pick up the pieces again in Carolyn's life. To be honest, Carolyn was tired of picking up the pieces in her life. She didn't want anymore roller coasters. She had to figure out why Gina was upset with her. What did Carolyn do to piss her off this badly that it would take a life-time mission to destroy Carolyn's life?

"You look exquisite, Lane would be most pleased," Lane's bodyguard said. "I shall take you now. Breakfast is served."

Carolyn didn't move a muscle, she stood there frozen. "And if I don't go with you, what will happen?" she asked.

"You know the drill, Miss Mason," he said. "Innocent people will die, and you'll loose much more than that jacket of yours."

Carolyn swallowed hard, and forced herself to take a step forward and out of her prison of four walls decorated intricately like a hotel suite.

She stepped up next to the bodyguard and he placed a hand over her shoulder, steering her into the main spacious space inside Lane's hotel suite where Lane was seated at a round table with a white cloth. He was waiting for her.

She sat down across the table from him where two plates full of fruit, croissants, freshly made eggs-on-toast.

Everything looked so wonderful and colorful in Carolyn's eyes that the thought of eating just didn't seem right.

"What is this?" she asked.

"I'm giving you the vacation you deserve," Lane said. "You're wearing Michael Korr's," he said. "He's very chic. This fruit is all organic, and fresh. I even prepared a little show for you to watch; that I thought would be most entertaining."

Carolyn didn't like Lane's hollow British tone. This is not the vacation she wanted. She didn't want to be here with Lane she wanted to be with Brandt. She swallowed hard as his image faded into her mind. She missed him. She didn't realize how much she missed him until now. She wanted to be with Ethan and Benji. She wanted things to be better again.

She would have thought that Benji would've realized Carolyn wasn't there, but she had to remind herself that Gina was acting like her to begin with, down to the very last facial and personality ticks, so they wouldn't have time to go looking for her. That's what sucked. That's what wasn't fair.

Her phone was confiscated. She couldn't even contact Brandt to warn him…who was currently in D.C. right now. She smirked at the thought as it came across her mind. That was the only hope she had right now that Brandt was still in D.C. and nowhere near Ethan.

"I haven't seen you smile in two days," Lane said, placing his fork into a melon. Instead of holding his fork up right, it was turned upside down so that the curved side was facing Carolyn. "What are you thinking?" he asked, chewing the melon in his mouth.

She quickly frowned, wiping it off her face, and looked at him when he finished "Nothing," she said, not wanting to give Lane any more satisfaction than she had.

"It was about him, wasn't it?" Lane said. "You think Hunt is going to save you, and everything will be rainbows and lollipops. The sun will finally shine down on us, and everything will be right again. I can tell you, life doesn't work that way. And this is your lesson that everyone like you should learn."

Carolyn furrowed her brows at him as one of his bodyguards fixed the mini-tablet into a little t.v. screen onto the round table.

"Gina, my dear, it's been too long. What is your status?" Lane asked, after an image spluttered to life on the screen. Carolyn scooted in her chair and leaned forward to look at the screen. Where were they? She wondered.

The city looked foreign that was what Carolyn recognized. It was early morning, close to the light skies around her own settings, so same time zone, she knew that much. She tried to look for any familiar land marks that she might recognize.

Then she saw it as the city came into view. She wondered how Lane was getting all this on screen, but it was possible Gina could have put a camera on Ethan's suit or whoever the woman was with him as they descended down to the Taurus Center.

She saw the famous building she remembered reading after one of her late night work nights as a cocktail waitress. She needed a hobby and reading about different cities in the world gave her an escape from the dull life she's put herself through.

It was the Hassan II Mosque. It was one of the largest mosques in Morocco. People came to kneel and pray in the morning. It was a beautiful thing in Carolyn's eyes as she recognized what city Ethan was in as she watched the sun rise from behind the mountains.

"Casablanca," Carolyn said in a whispered realization.

Lane smiled. "Very good, Carolyn. You are smart," he said.

" _In the get-away car. Ethan and Benji are on the move,"_ Gina's voice replied. " _I'm on stand-by. In case it doesn't go to plan_."

Carolyn looked at Lane worriedly as her heart clenched tight. "In case what doesn't go to plan?"

"Just watch," Lane said. "You seem to think Ethan Hunt will be there to rescue you all the time, let's put it to the test, and see if anyone will be there to rescue him. Run it, please," Lane ordered Gina.

Inside the get-away car, Gina typed fast on her tablet and pulled up a screen to upload it to Lane's tablet, where Ethan and Ilsa sat in front of the whirl-pool chamber down below them. Her eye-lens made it possible for Carolyn and Lane to watch what was happening on Benji's tablet.

"What is he trying to do?" Carolyn asked in a whisper.

"There is a ledger I want, and he's going to find it for me. It contains all the names of the Syndicate group I helped create," Lane replied.

Carolyn swallowed hard. "Charlie was on that list wasn't he?" she asked, even though she probably already knew the answer.

"Yes," Lane said. "Dimitri was on there as well."

Carolyn frowned, eyeing him curiously. She read the tired lines etched into his face, as he pulled up his glasses upon his nose, keeping them from falling off. "Eyes to the screen please," Lane said. Carolyn gulped, not wanting to watch what was about to happen to Ethan. She didn't think she could bear it this time. "Eyes to the screen please, it's very rude to stare."

She twisted her lips into a glowering glance and forced her eyes to look back at the screen.

She could hear Benji's voice on the tablet, and Lane turned up the volume.

" _One more time_ ," Ilsa said. " _You'll have three minutes. Two and a half minutes to switch the security profile_ ," she said, handing Ethan the yellow disc from her back pocket. Ethan took it in his hand. " _Thirty seconds to escape through the service hatch_."

Carolyn widened her eyes and looked over at Lane, who's smile twitched upward a bit. She recognized the British woman's voice from a few days ago when she got away from Ethan and Benji in Vienna. _Oh, God_ , Carolyn thought, sick to her stomach. How far did this sick little mind trick of Lane's go? She swallowed hard, and tried to keep her emotions calmed….as she watched the screen before her. They sat on a leveled shelf beneath the flowing whirl pool that was called the Taurus.

" _Remember conserve oxygen, don't move a muscle if you don't have to,"_ Benji said.

Ethan drew in a deep breath and let it out, trying to stay calm and focused on his breathing techniques. He looked at his oxygen wrist timer and saw that it was green and to near full power.

What Ethan was seeing, Carolyn was watching on the screen because somehow Gina was able to put a tracking camera device on him. It was unnerving that Lane had eyes and ears in her team and Carolyn was stuck here watching…and feeling helpless.

" _I'm in the elevator,"_ Benji said, voice cutting into the speakers.

" _That current will carry you to the Taurus_ ," Ilsa explained. Ethan looked down inside to see the rushing seawater flow down into the cone shaft.

Even Carolyn took in a deep breath herself as she watched it flow through like a whirl pool.

" _Once you're there, I'll shut it down_ ," Ilsa said. Ethan took in another deep breath and let it out slowly, getting ready for his death-defying jump ahead of him.

It reminded Carolyn of the death-defying fall she and Brandt had to do on their last mission, and now it was Ethan's turn to hold his breath for three minutes. Brandt would definitely be freaking out right about now. She was impressed that Ethan could control his emotions.

" _On an important note, the slot is in 108, and on a slightly more important note to remember, I'm dead_ ," Benji said.

" _Thank you Benji_ ," Ilsa said.

Carolyn let out a breath, definitely not in the mood to eat her breakfast. All she wanted was for Ethan to get out in one piece, along with Benji and Ilsa. Carolyn knew Ethan would have all the tricks in the book, blacking out the cameras and using fake profiles themselves to get into the building that was heavily guarded.

Lane was too focused on Ethan, and dangling his life in Carolyn's face. She was so nervous and worried for him as she watched with worried eyes. She could feel her anxiety slowly start to creep up on her again. She frowned. Didn't she get over this already? Why was it coming back?

Oh, right, because Ethan was currently jumping into a vault of pressurized water, salinized seawater, and he only had three minutes to do so. That was nerve-wrecking in itself.

The screen suddenly enlarged to the inside view of the Taurus where Ethan swam against the current. The pressure was turned off so Ethan could complete his mission, switching discs before the time went out, so that Benji could download the ledger with the names of the Syndicate group to clear their names.

Carolyn frowned. What if Ethan made it? What if Ethan made it and they forgot her? What if they took the wrong Carolyn and she killed Brandt like Lane said she would, and it would be too late for the real Carolyn to save Brandt? She chewed her bottom lip worriedly as everyone synchronized their watches for the count down of three minutes. That was not a lot of time.

"Now, I assure you, you are wishing that Ethan doesn't make it and that he does die," Lane said with a smile. "But that won't happen. He's smart, sometimes a little too smart, so I must be an extra step ahead of him, and I will be. You just wait. Everything will come to motion soon enough," he said.

Carolyn frowned, trying to block out Lane's words spewing out of his mouth but she couldn't. They were drilled into her head. And she didn't want Ethan to die. She wanted him to live and recognize the fake Carolyn before it was too late. And she knew, for some reason, that Ethan was going to be alright.

"Ethan will make it," Carolyn whispered.

"Split screens please," Lane ordered.

The screen split to two screens. One side had Ethan inside The Taurus, while the other side had Benji walking inside the building, breezing through the security locks as each minute ticked by in silence that pricked against Carolyn's skin. This time she couldn't run after any bad guy. This time she was stuck.

"3 screens," Lane ordered.

Two screens merged together side by side and scrunched down a bit so that there was room for another screen to show that the water pressure had been turned off and that the men in white coats were checking it out, wondering what the problem was as they tried to figure out the controlling system.

Carolyn looked over at Lane, who smiled when he watched what was happening to Ethan Hunt.

" _The cooling system is rebooting,"_ One of the workers said, glancing at his computer.

"You should try the strawberries," Lane said, plopping in a juicy red strawberry in his mouth with his fork. "They are delicious."

Carolyn looked over at Lane as he bit into his piece of strawberry. Every inside of her stomach churned uneasily as she tightened her lips together, fighting the anger and worry she felt in her heart that was starting to stress her out. She tried to ignore the alarm system coming through the computer, but she couldn't.

Ethan flowed through the water shaft inside and landed in the whirl pool, Taurus.

There were machines moving and changing that Carolyn could only think it was the computer system. She watched anxiously as Ethan grabbed onto one of the closed hatches containing discs of highly classified information until the current slowed down.

He swam over from 100 to 108, until he held onto the handles and lowered his body onto the side so he could pull it apart.

Just watching Ethan underwater was making Carolyn a little nauseous and dizzy.

One of the turning arms that kept the machine going, nearly hit Ethan's head, and Carolyn let out a slight gasp as he ducked. He took out a tool from the inside of his wet suit, and placed it in the keyhole. He twisted it so that the lock-hatch could float away in the water since he didn't need it.

The water looked so full and blue, and when Lane put it up on full screen, she felt like she was swimming in it.

He took out the disc from the slot, and was about to switch them until the metal arm suddenly backed him away. Ethan held onto it, suddenly loosing his grip on the yellow discs in the water.

The clock on the tablet's side corner read :52 seconds left. Carolyn chewed her bottom lip, and leaned against the table, tugging her lip in a nervous motion, as Lane fixed the screen to two screens so she could see how Benji was doing.

Three screens again.

"The system's normal," the worker announced to his co-workers. "Cooling system is at full power."

And then there were four slots of images on the screen that Carolyn could see. It was the opening of the Taurus as the pressurized water came trickling back inside.

"No, no, no, no," Ilsa said, as she tried to counteract against the water pressure with her tablet in her lap.

"You're trying to give me a heart attack aren't you?" Carolyn asked in a whisper. She thought it was cruel and horrifying of what Lane was doing to her and to her friends.

Finally Lane pulled up the whirl pull Taurus screen to full screen where Ethan was thrusting his strength against the water's new current that he had to push through. He grabbed onto one of the edge slots down below the Taurus computer and reached out his arm to stretch for the yellow disc in front of him. Carolyn was pleading for Ethan to make it. She knew he could do it. He had the strength and the tenacity that she was always supportive of, and in awe of. She wished she had that strength Ethan had.

"Come on, Ethan," she whispered, unable to help it.

The discs had gotten loose and floated into the water. But he was loosing oxygen fast, as he swam as fast as he could to grab onto the discs.

He swam around and reached for the floating disc until he finally grabbed both of them into each hand. Carolyn's heart dropped with relief as she smiled. He was now going to make it out of there. He could do this.

Split screen again, as she saw that Benji was walking down the white hallway as the scans scanned for any imperfections of the agent that supposedly worked there.

Ethan lost one of the discs, but was able to put the fake profile into the disc so that Benji could get in without a glitch.

Ethan let go of the slot, and fell back into the current of the water so that he could get out. He found his way to the service hatch and held onto the red handles. He tried to twist it open, and almost had it had it not been for the electrical arm moving around. He scooted closer to the service hatch so that he didn't get caught and turned the handle.

"Tick, tick, tick…" Lane said, as Ethan's oxygen ran out like a heart throbbing time bomb. "Goodbye," he said, and the screen clicked off just as Ethan's eyes closed and his body fell limp into the water, leaving Carolyn to scream. Unfortunately no one would hear her because her world had gone black.

Lane dipped his fork into his fruit bowl and plopped in a blueberry into his mouth, while he took a sip of his mimosa. The guard took Carolyn in his arms and took her away from Lane to eat his breakfast in peace.

~*MI*~

 **A/n: Lane is such a tough character to write! He's evil, but like polite at the same time. So weird! Anyway, hope I did okay. It was a lot. And watching that scene always makes me dizzy so I had to stop there! I love my readers, reviews, follows, and favorites! :) Thank you for reading and sticking with me!**


	19. Chapter 18: Four By Four

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy my lovely readers!**

 **Chapter 18: Four by Four**

Carolyn tapped out of her tablet, putting it in a locked mode. She slid her tablet underneath her seat of the car as she spotted Benji quickly rushing out to the car. He placed the palm of his hand on top of the glass and the code key lit up green, recognizing his finger prints. He started undoing his tie, and took off his suit. "Did he make it?" she asked.

Benji looked over at her face and saw her worried expression that held dear for their friend Ethan. He narrowed his eyes at her however when he thought he saw something glint off of her eyes from the sun's glare beaming off of the car and the building. Carolyn tilted her head to the side curiously, wondering what Benji was looking at and she frowned.

He nodded. "I think so," Benji said. "Grab her clothes from the back, she'll need them."

" _She_ rescued him?" Carolyn asked with disbelief etched in her voice as she spoke.

Benji unsheathed his jacket and then his pants, changing as quick as he could. He nodded.

"Odd," Carolyn said.

"Odd?" Benji asked, as he strung on his Hawaiian blouse on over his orange shirt. "I'm grateful."

"Well, I am too, I'm just saying…it's…curious," Carolyn said.

"You don't trust her?" Benji asked.

Carolyn looked at him, fiddling with the backpack in her lap. She sighed. "I don't know," she said. Carolyn turned around to the backseat in search for Ilsa's clothes. She grabbed the bundle in the backseat and got out of the car along with Benji who had discarded his suit in the backseat of the car.

"All I know is that she saved Ethan because he was bloody close to loosing his neck," Benji said.

Carolyn nodded, listening to Benji's restored faith in Ilsa. She got out of the car with the backpack in her hands and walked around the car to the driver's side where Benji locked it. He did something with the car, while Carolyn waited and handed him the backpack so he could strap it on over his shoulder.

Together they ran back to the back entrance of the Taurus where Ilsa sat on the ground, worrying over Ethan's life. Benji and Carolyn walked down the staircase. "See, what'd I'd tell you, difficult, but absolutely not…" Benji began as he made it down to the cement floors below. He looked up in mid sentence, and gasped. "Jesus Christ! Is he alright?" Benji asked as he quickly walked over to Ethan who was lying on his back in a complete daze. Water dropped from Ilsa's hair onto Ethan's face and bare chest as he laid there, breathless, trying to catch his breath. Carolyn followed not to far from Benji as they knelt down beside him.

"Ethan," Carolyn cried. "Are you alright?"

"What happened?" Benji asked breathlessly.

Ethan turned to face Carolyn and tilted his head to the side with a curious glint in his eyes. "Carolyn…what are you…I thought you…" he said but then stopped.

"It's me Carolyn," Carolyn said with a nod. She sent him a small smile.

Ilsa looked over at Carolyn with a slight glare in her eyes but Ethan was too unfocused to catch it as Benji gently shook Ethan to his side.

Benji unzipped the backpack and handed Benji Ilsa's clothes to Ilsa. She looked at them and then at Benji who stopped her. She froze in her mission, and looked up at him with wide eyes. "I misjudged you," he said.

Ethan watched the exchange as Ilsa took her clothes and started to change. Benji walked over to Ethan and knelt down beside him. "Hey, hey man are you okay?" Benji asked.

Carolyn looked over at Ilsa as she took off her wet-suit and then turned her head at Benji.

"Hey buddy," Benji said.

"Benji," Ethan said, as though he was just registering Benji in his eyes for the first time since he got out of the Taurus.

"Yeah," Benji said with a relieved smile on his face. At least Ethan was still coming to and he was still Ethan. "Benji."

Carolyn looked down at Ethan and then over her shoulder, still keeping an eye on Ilsa as she put on her clothes, and tied her beige jacket around her waist.

"You did good," Benji said in a whisper. His whisper echoed throughout the walls of the hidden base outside the Taurus. "You take a moment, there's nothing that a little sunshine and fresh air won't fix, you'll be right as rain."

Carolyn smiled at Benji and then looked at Ethan. She ran a hand over his wet locks, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. He turned to face her and narrowed his dark eyes at Carolyn with curiosity. There was something different about her that Ethan couldn't quite place.

"What are you doing here?" Ethan asked.

"Hey…look, look, look," Benji said, pulling out the flash drive from his pocket to show Ethan. "We got it," he said excitedly. Ilsa turned around and looked over her shoulder to see the flash drive in Benji's hands. Carolyn looked over at Ilsa feeling the woman's eyes on her and the two shared a stare down, making Carolyn gulp. Benji laughed almost manically as he was entirely pleased with himself that they'd gotten victory over their current mission. Carolyn turned around and looked at Benji curiously. "Listen, I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything okay? I appreciate everything you do for me, but one of these days you are going to take it too far," Benji said with a chuckle. Ethan smiled at the technician. "We are gonna nail that son of a-" But before Benji could finish his sentence, he was shocked by Ilsa.

Carolyn looked at Ilsa and she stared at her with a tilt of her head. Ilsa grabbed the flash drive from Benji's hand, and took off running. Ethan started to get up with the help of Carolyn, "Come on, we gotta go after her," she said in a heated rush.

"Go," Ethan said, pointing to her. Carolyn looked at him like he was crazy, but she took off running, not wanting to defy his orders and ran after Ilsa. She pulled her collar and shoved Ilsa against the wall before she could get to the car. Carolyn was about to throw a punch in Ilsa's face, but she ducked and Carolyn hit her hand in the wall. Carolyn yelled as burning pain ran through her knuckles, and surged through her arm.

Ilsa grabbed Carolyn's other arm, twisted it behind her back and shoved her against the wall, leaning into her ear, "You're not fooling anyone, _Gina_ ," she whispered.

"Oh really?" Carolyn taunted in a heated rush. "I've got them all wrapped around my little finger. It'll only be a matter of time before your plan falls apart, and Ethan kills the wrong Carolyn."

Ilsa was about to twist Carolyn's neck until Carolyn stopped her, "I don't think you want to do that, Ilsa. Lane will have word of this, and then where would you be?"

Ilsa spun Carolyn around, and let her go. "You can throw a punch, make it look real," she said, smiling at her. "When'd you figure it out?"

Ilsa glared at Carolyn as she smiled right through her, Gina's smile and all. Ilsa threw a mean punch across Carolyn's face, knocking the girl down on the ground, not completely unconscious, but enough to make it seem like Carolyn tried to get Ilsa.

"Classified," Ilsa said hotly as she ran to the car. She placed her hand over the car, and tried to unlock it. The lock didn't go through like she thought it would, and that made her frown. She was about to go to Carolyn, and ask why, but she was met by Vinter and the rest of Lane's men dressed in biker suits. Cornered.

"Where's Hunt?" he asked.

Ilsa sighed. "He's dead," she said. Vinter looked at her with steely eyes and she pulled up the flash drive in her fingers to show him. He smiled at her and motioned for her to follow down the alley way where a set of bikes formed a cemi-circle, waiting for her to hop on.

Meanwhile, back by the car, Carolyn pulled herself up, using the wall as support, and winced as the throbbing pain tried to subdue around her jaw. She ran a hand over her jaw and bruised gums and teeth she felt inside of her. "Owe…" she groaned. "Bitch, next time, I'm gonna ask nicely," she said with a groan just as Benji and Ethan ran out of the entrance, and then stopped when they spotted Carolyn, steadying herself against the wall.

"Taking a nap?" Benji asked.

"No," Carolyn scowled. "I tried to get Ilsa, but evidentially that didn't go so well," she muttered.

"Which way?" Benji asked, as he looked up at her red mark on her cheek. He walked back to her. He pulled her arm off the wall and helped her up onto her feet.

She motioned a quick nod over and pointed down the alleyway where she thought Ilsa might be.

Ethan then turned to face the car, "That way," he thought, and ran over to the car. He hopped over the car, and slid across the front of the hood, falling onto the ground. "Whoa," Ethan cried, landing on the ground.

Carolyn and Benji looked at one another with wide eyes as Ethan pulled himself up and placed the palm of his hand to unlock the car. The car unlocked as Benji stopped in mid-panic, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you okay to drive?" Benji asked.

Ethan looked at Benji as he caught his breath.

"A minute ago you were dead," Benji said.

Ethan gave him a quizzical look. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

Benji widened his eyes when Ethan asked him that and turned to face Carolyn.

"This isn't gonna end well," Benji said, sliding in the passenger's side.

"Carolyn, driver's side, now," Ethan said as Carolyn slid into the passenger side behind Benji.

"What?" she asked him, glancing at him through the rear view mirror of the backseat of the car. She slammed the door close.

"Slide over to my side of the car, it's safer," Ethan said.

Carolyn gulped and slid over to his side of the car.

She drew in a deep breath as silence dropped inside the car while Ethan pulled forward then crashed back trying to get out of parallel parking. Carolyn tightened the seat underneath her, already scared for her life.

He finally merged into the alleyway and drove forward with Benji looking at Ethan worriedly.

Benji looked ahead of him as Ethan sped on. "There she is!" he said, pointing toward Ilsa sitting on her bike, waiting for them. She spun around and sped forward through the alley with Ethan hot on her tail, pressing the gas pedal for speed.

Ethan swerved over nearly hitting the side of a building. Carolyn gasped as she looked ahead of her at a flight of Moroccan stairs. Was he crazy? He was totally crazy.

"Stairs, stairs, stairs!" Benji cried as Ethan drove down them, following after Ilsa.

The car rocked back and forth down the stairs while Carolyn felt her stomach drop at each pull forward.

"Ah, Goddamn it!" Benji yelled as he winced when Ethan finally landed on a much smoother surface for the wheels.

Suddenly Carolyn heard more motorcycles behind her, also fleeing the flight of stairs that they just went over. There had to be a least six or seven of them behind them. "Ethan!" she cried frantically and turned to face him in the driver's seat.

"Yeah, I see 'em," Ethan shouted back at her as the car flew a one-eighty around a tight space inside what it appeared to be a Moroccan market. They flew across a white four by four as Ilsa sped away from them.

Carolyn peered out the window in shock as she noticed who was inside the white four by four.

Agent Brandt.

Holy shit. She thought.

Brandt turned to face her and she swallowed hard. She looked at him up and down before Ethan put the car into drive again.

Benji's mouth dropped open as well as shock fled inside the car. Ethan nodded at Brandt's dropped mouth and smiled at him. Benji pointed to Luther who waved at them.

Carolyn pressed her nose against the glass as she looked at Brandt who looked back behind him, watching Ethan drive away with her inside.

Brandt turned to face Luther, "Found them," he said, and pulled the jeep back, attempting to start a three=point turn, but then stopped when all of a sudden a bike sped around them.

"Awe, come on man!" Luther cried exasperatedly.

The bikers flew passed them while Brandt turned the wheel as fast as the car would allow him too. "Shit," Brandt said. "It's a high speed chase! You just had to get the four by four didn't ya! You just _had_ to have it," he said as Luther tried to argue that it wasn't his fault.

"Look, don't blame me, you chose the car," Luther said.

"You just had to have it!" Brandt said, turning the car around so they could help Ethan.

"Look do you want me to drive?" Luther asked, watching Brandt slowly drive forward out of their tight space. "Do you want me to drive? Look, look how slow you're going!"

"No!" Brandt said, and pressed the foot on the gas pedal as soon as he was able to drive forward.


	20. Chapter 19: High Speed Chase

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am just writing for fun and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Thank you for reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing!**

 **Chapter 19: High Speed Chase**

Back in Ethan's BMW, Carolyn gripped tightly on the edges of her cushioned seat beneath her. She tried to keep calm to the best of her abilities while Ethan looked out the windshield, trying to gain up on Ilsa's motorbike.

She could feel the fast pace of the car's engine behind her and it tickled inside of her, not helping her sudden feelings for seeing Brandt in the white jeep. She hadn't accounted for him to even find them in Morocco, let alone fly all the way out here.

Carolyn noticed a man dressed in a black biker suit suddenly zip passed them with a dark helmet covering his head.

"Who's this guy?" Benji asked.

"Obviously part of the motorcade," Carolyn mumbled sarcastically, but then the guy on the bike started to shoot at Ilsa. "Or not…" she frowned.

"Shit!" Benji cried as Ethan hit the gas pedal and sped forward, butting the hood of the car out from underneath the guy on the motorbike. Benji and Carolyn automatically ducked as if they were going to get whacked too, from the biker's flip over the car play.

The guy on the bike fell off and rolled over on the ground. Carolyn turned back to glance over her shoulder to see him immovable and she gulped.

"More coming!" Carolyn warned, as the bikers all appeared behind them, as they zoomed around their fallen biker. "With guns," she screamed, and ducked, as five of them took out their black weapons from their pockets and shot at them, bullets breaking glass as Carolyn, Benji, and Ethan took cover. Glass shards from the back of the car fell over the backseat and onto Carolyn's shoulder. Panicking, she shifted to the side of her door as close as she could get and brushed the glass off of her onto the floor.

One of the bullets smashed into Ethan's rearview mirror and as he looked back at it, he pressed his foot hard on the breaks and the car swirled into really tight turn, leaving Benji and Carolyn to scream for their lives.

Ethan had turned down a narrow street way, flanked by two buildings on either side that caused the bikers to turn around the same way and follow suit so that they were off Ilsa's tail. Carolyn couldn't fathom what Ethan's deal was, but she didn't like it one bit. She wanted to live today.

"Um, Ethan," Carolyn said, wincing as he pushed forward. "I'd really like to live today, if you don't mind."

Ethan smirked, and pushed forward, gripping tightly on the wheel in his hands.

"Go, go, go, go!" Benji cried, holding onto the dashboard as the bikers gained up on their speed. Ethan drifted across the street, narrowly hitting the sides of the building and affectively hitting several baskets that flew behind them as Ethan drove away, making Carolyn cringe at the forcible impact against the car. "I'm okay, I'm okay," Benji panicked.

Ethan looked behind them to see if the bikers were still there, and low and behold they'd caught up to them. Ethan pulled around and drifted out from the narrow street into another street way that was not meant for this to be the Indy-500 by the way. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," Benji cried frantically, trying to hold onto his own seat.

Benji turned behind his shoulder and widened his eyes, "Here they come!" he warned Ethan. Carolyn looked around her shoulder and gasped. She ducked, lowering her body over her knees, and covered her head in case they were going to shoot again because they were dangerously close to the car's bumper. "What are we going to do?" Benji asked.

"Uh…" Ethan said, panicked, as he listened to the loud beeping noise of the car's rear warning sound that someone was too close by his car. Ethan suddenly shifted gears and stepped on the breaks to a screeching halt, and pulled on the stick, slowing down his car, and twirling the wheel around as the bikers zoomed around him. Carolyn and Benji screamed as they spun around, knocking some of the bikers over in the process.

But one biker, managed to grab a hold of the hood of the car, and pointed his gun at the front window of the car at Ethan and Benji, but he fell off with Ethan's speed and force of the car. Ethan pulled the car's gear into rear-view mode and started speeding backwards, as he turned his head to watch where he was going.

The biker flew down the narrow street, following Ethan's BMW down the road.

Carolyn felt yanked backwards against her seat as soon as Ethan pulled his gear into motion.

"Gun!" Benji yelled, as the biker started shooting them. Carolyn ducked, holding her hands out to protect her, following Ethan and Benji who did the same.

"Do you have you're seatbelt on?" Ethan asked.

"You're asking me that now?" Benji cried.

Carolyn quickly reached for her seatbelt and strapped it on, panic gripping her heart.

Ethan looked up at Benji and then at Carolyn with a quizzical look before he glanced back behind him. The car speed backwards down the long road and suddenly broke a gate as he pressed the gas pedal, giving the car as much momentum as he possibly could that left the car flying in the air.

"Hang on!" Ethan called, as he gripped the steering wheel, and Carolyn tried to keep her mouth from screaming. She didn't want any glass shards cut up in her mouth, as they flew around her face. She held onto the ceiling for dear life as the car flipped backwards, bouncing off against the hood of the car that made the front seat's airbags pop out for Benji and Ethan's safety. Carolyn gripped onto Ethan's seat in panic, fear that she wasn't going to make it and ducked her head until the car crash landed into a swift stop.

Ethan sighed in relief, and looked over at Benji. He had his eyes closed, and he frowned at his odd form, like he'd passed out due to the shock of Ethan's death-defying car crash. He glanced at his silver sunglasses that had fallen on top of the car's hood beside him.

"Carolyn?" Ethan whispered. "Carolyn?" he said when he didn't hear anything from her.

A light gasp escaped from her lips, "I'm here," she said a little bit louder than Ethan would have liked, but at least she was alright. "Is Benji…okay?" she asked.

"Not sure…" Ethan said, "But I…" he stopped talking when he saw legs dressed in black walking over to him. "Shh," he said. Carolyn zipped her lips shut and slightly turned her head, wincing as she did so, feeling crushed inside the car. It was probably a good thing she put her seatbelt on, otherwise she wouldn't be breathing or panicking on the inside right now because the biker was coming after them.

Ethan tried to get out of his seatbelt restraints, and Carolyn followed suit, not wanting to die like this at all. But the restraints were stuck and he was coming closer until...a white jeep smacked him right down on the ground.

Brandt and Luther got out of the jeep. Luther checked to make sure the biker was down for good, while Brandt jogged over to check on Ethan, Benji, and Carolyn. He fell to his knees, and placed a hand on top of the car's belly side, glancing inside the car. He looked at Benji, and then Carolyn, relieved to see that she was alive.

"Are we good?" Brandt asked.

Ethan turned his head in a slow motion, giving him a wincing expression. "Things got a little out of hand."

"Ya think?" Carolyn asked, coughing trying to find her voice again from her screams of fear.

Brandt smiled at the sound of her voice in his ears. "It's good to hear your voice again," he said.

Carolyn lifted her lips into a smile and was about to say something witty in return until Benji suddenly woke up, alert, and in alarm.

"Ah, look out!" Benji said, and then frowned when he looked at Ethan and where he currently was sitting, in a turned over car with airbags puffed out.

Brandt and Luther yanked apart the jammed door and pulled Ethan out of the car first. "We good?" Brandt asked, as he helped Ethan steady himself onto his feet. Ethan nodded and held onto Brandt's arm to keep his body from swaying, feeling the after affects of the car crash, but Ethan just nodded as if it was nothing.

"Brandt!" Carolyn said, catching Luther and Brandt's attention. "Please get me out of here," Carolyn cried in a small whimper as she tried to get herself out of her seatbelt, but it was jammed. She was hot and sweaty, feeling the fear and adrenaline wash all over her at the same time. She was shaking and she wanted out.

Ethan gave Brandt a nod of his head for him to go help her. He was fine, just a little shaken, but fine.

Luther walked over to Ethan as Ethan nodded and waved at him slowly, while Luther sent Ethan a quizzical and worried look.

Ethan looked over at the sound of more motorbikes zooming toward the freeway.

Brandt and Luther pulled the door open, revealing Benji and Carolyn who poked her head out, sending Brandt a dark and tired look.

"Oh hey boys, what did I miss?" Benji asked.

Luther and Brandt glanced at each other as the sounds of the engines flew passed them, motorbikes getting away from them in the far distance, but what they didn't realize was that Ethan had placed his sunglasses on his nose, and climbed onto the dead biker's motorcycle, charging after them, convinced that Ilsa was still with them.

"I swear to God, if I don't get out of here…I'm going to scream," Carolyn said.

"Hello to you too FOC," Luther said with a chuckle.

Carolyn rolled her eyes, clearly not in the mood.

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a twist," Luther said, and turned toward Brandt, "She's a lot grumpier than I remember."

"You weren't in a death defying car-crash," Carolyn mumbled.

Luther arched a curious brow, and shared a small look with the analyst, as Brandt unsheathed a knife from his back pocket and showed Benji and Carolyn the silver blade from its hilt.

"Ooh, that looks sharp, careful, careful," Benji said, cringing at the idea of Brandt slicing and dicing his way to get to his friends.

As Brandt and Luther were distracted by helping Benji and Carolyn out of the car, Ethan sped off on the motorbike, following the last three remaining bikers of Lane's crew onto the freeway. The noise of Ethan's bike caught their attention as they snapped up in sync, watching Ethan with wide eyes. Brandt had a sickening feeling Ethan might be going a little too far with this one, and he was wondering if he was going to be able to talk some sense to him at all…

"Hot, and tired, and really wanting to shower right now, thank you _very_ much," Carolyn said, making Brandt wince at her irritated voice.

Yeah, he thought with a frown, it was time to get them out. Brandt dropped back down to the ground, and started to use his knife to cut Benji out of the seatbelt.

Luther worked his way on the other side to help Carolyn out of her own restraints that were jammed, but the knife easily sliced through the fabric that cut into her skin. Once he set her free, he told her to climb over the seat and try as best as she could to climb out after Benji crawled into Brandt's arms, and stumbled onto the road, free from the car that nearly crushed him to death. Benji sighed and leaned against the car as Luther pulled Carolyn's body out of the car with his strength and agility.

She sighed, once he steadied her on her feet. Relief washed over her now that she was out of that stuffy, hot and mangled car.

She looked out into the freeway with a frown. Ethan was going after them. He was crazy. And what was crazier is that Brandt was here right now. Brandt was here and not in the United States like he was supposed to be.

"Now what? We can't just let him go," Benji said.

"Too late," Luther said, pointing in the direction Ethan was currently on, probably on his way to fighting the very last biker that they were chasing.

Carolyn rubbed the sides of her throbbing temples and groaned slightly as Brandt joined her side, blocking the sun's rays, casting a shadow.

"I think for now," Brandt said, gently taking one of her hands into his and threaded his fingers along her hand, making Carolyn's pulse rise in panic. "We need to figure out our next move."

"Chances are Ethan already has," Luther said, casting a glance at Brandt. Brandt looked back at Luther. "We just need to wait here till he get's back."

Carolyn let out a sigh. "If he get's back," she mumbled.

Brandt frowned and pulled Carolyn into his arms. She was a bit reluctant to fall into his arms, strong and fierce, but she let him hold her, fear of what might happen if she didn't. He lifted a strand of hair out of her eyes, and looked into hers. "I'm glad you're safe," he said as soon as Luther and Benji walked over to the white jeep.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Yeah," Brandt smiled. "Because I was worried I'd never be able to tell you how I feel…"

Carolyn frowned. "But what about Blair? What about all the horrible things I did?" she said. "T-that wasn't fair to you…"

"I'm willing to give us a second chance," Brandt said. "If…you want."

Carolyn blinked at this, and was about to open her mouth to say something, but then she closed it and looked into his deep blue eyes that gazed into hers. "I guess we could work something out," she said, clearing her throat. She blinked a couple of times, glancing down at the ground.

Brandt's fingers lifted her chin up and he planted a kiss on top of her lips, and within his kiss, she smiled, and kissed him harder than what he intended to feel.


	21. Chapter 20: Heated Expressions

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy! I know, we're all screaming on the inside! Gasp! Thank you all for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing!**

 **Chapter 20: Heated Expressions**

Brandt's tongue ran along her lips within her smile as she opened her mouth for him to enter her, but he didn't. His tongue continued to drift along her chin and lips in such a hypnotist way, she shivered, not missing the tingling sensations he gave her, running over her body, making her feel like jelly. She brought her hands to his head to pull him in closer, pressing her lips firmly against his that drew out a soft moan out of his lips. His tongue licked her lips, scorching, lingering, licking her taste and to be honest Carolyn was starting to like it. She parted her lips for his tongue to enter her mouth, but he suddenly broke apart, and she frowned slightly, as confusion filled her eyes. Brandt gripped her upper arms tight within the palms of his hands, and pushed her hard against the back of the car. "Owe," she hissed, wincing at the forcible impact that ran through her body. "Brandt, what the hell?" she asked.

Brandt stared at Carolyn's hazel eyes as anger surged through him like he'd been burned by a witch. Something was wrong. Anger flared in his eyes, and fumed from his nostrils. "Where is she?" he demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Carolyn said, her eyes suddenly dancing back and forth as she tried to read his blue ones staring back at her, now a fiery rage. She shrunk against the car in fear at Brandt's tight grip on her upper arms. She winced. "You're hurting me."

"Good," he said. "Because that's not how the _real_ Carolyn kisses. I'd know damn well how. She has a cut on her lip," he said, pulling her bottom lip within his fingers to where the cut of her lip would be, and roughly let go. "Now," he said, shoving her again against the car. "I'm going to ask you again. Where is she?"

Gina sighed at the sound of guns clicking behind Brandt in the blazing heat of Morocco. She peered over Brandt's shoulder only to find Luther and Benji's guns aimed for her head. "Took you boys long enough to figure it out," she said.

"Wanted to make sure you were the fake Carolyn before I did anything rash," Benji said, clicking his gun in a warning tone that made Gina smirk at him. "The man asked you a question. Answer it."

Gina realized the gig was up, and it was time to pay the price. She winced as the sudden realization dawned on her that Lane was probably not going to be happy about this, but Gina had tried her best, and she also knew it wasn't quite over for them yet. It wasn't over until the fat lady sang, and Gina would sing her praises. She could possibly use this reveal to her advantage, since after all Lane was just in the beginning motions of his own devious plan…unless that stupid Ilsa continued to ruin things…Gina could still win this.

"Answer me, _now_ ," Brandt said, shoving her hard against the car again. Gina stumbled against the car and glared at him.

"That was _rude_ ," Gina said, glaring at Brandt.

"No, what's rude is taking someone else's identity and screwing everyone over with it," Luther said.

"I only do what you do," Gina said, smiling. "Just better. Now I can tell Carolyn the truth. She didn't want to believe me at first."

"What truth?" Benji asked as Brandt continued to stare and analyze her. It was freaky to see someone else play Carolyn when she was only God knows where.

"The truth that all men are assholes, and will sooner or later leave you for another pretty face," Gina said. "It happened to me, it can happen to her. And that kiss right there, just proved it."

With all his anger, unable to control it, he smacked her hard against her cheek, and she cried out in the stinging pain that affected her jaw. That had made her fall to her bottom, cowering against the car. She brought her hand to ease the pain from her cheeks. Brandt was about to throw another hit if she didn't answer him, but Luther grabbed his arm and pulled Brandt back. "Let it go, man," Luther said. "She's not worth it."

Benji sighed and watched Luther take Brandt over to the jeep to let him cool off. Brandt's glowering eyes did not leave Gina's. He couldn't believe it. She'd been manipulating them the whole time.

Benji walked over to the fallen fake Carolyn and pulled her up against the car so that she leaned her back and head against the car, feeling the pain and tiredness take over her body. Benji knelt down beside her and took her head in his hands. He ran his fingers along her neck, trying to find a way to get the Carolyn-look-alike mask off of her.

"Everyone gets to wear a mask but me," he muttered with a sigh, and ripped it off of her to reveal a young woman with tanned skin, darker than Carolyn's as if she'd been out in the sun too long. As he discarded the mask, he pulled off the wig that went along with it to reveal dark caramel colored hair that was wrapped up in a messy ponytail.

He searched her face and sighed. "Gina?" he asked.

Gina looked up from the ground and up into his eyes. "Make-up is a beautiful thing."

"Well, I'll be damned." Luther said, recognizing the brown-eyed beauty from Carolyn's restaurant in Seattle.

"Thought we checked you out months ago," Benji said.

Brandt turned around to face the woman revealed to be Gina, and he narrowed his eyes at her, waiting to hear her explanation. He crossed his arms over his chest, and sent her a steely expression on his face. He knew something was wrong, especially when Carolyn didn't answer his call back in D.C.

"You did," Gina said. "But that was a fake file. Allow me to introduce myself. Regina Czarr, former gymnast, rising actress, turned Syndicate agent."

"Dimitri's her brother," Brandt said, walking closer to Benji and Luther.

"Half," Gina said with a roll of her eyes.

Brandt glared at her. "Also part of the Syndicate," he said.

"Exacto-mundo," Gina said, sending him a wink. "My, my, my, so many smart gentlemen surrounding me! I get such a thrill. Wanna know a secret?" she smiled the utmost evil smile she could possibly muster.

"Enlighten us," Brandt said, tight-lipped, trying to control his anger that was inside of him.

"Lane's manipulating, _all_ of you," she said in a cooing tone of voice like she was talking to children.

Brandt wanted so much to wipe off that proud smirk of hers, but he allowed her to continue talking, in hopes that she would reveal her faults and truths of where Carolyn might be.

Gina's eyes darted between the three men staring down at her, cornering her so she couldn't escape. Guns were still drawn, and she wasn't stupid. She wasn't going to move a muscle. She was going to play with them a little bit more. Her eyes landed on Brandt, noticing the anger pulsating through his veins. This was fun, she thought.

"Lane has her, doesn't he?" Benji asked, frowning at the curious sight in front of his eyes.

"Oh he does," Gina said. "He wanted to manipulate each and every one of you, knowing that the two of you were stronger together. If he had you distracted, he could work out his plan here," she informed Brandt in particular because of his close friendship with Ethan.

"How did you meet?" Luther asked.

Gina turned to face him. "We met along time ago, in the theatre district. He saw me and my potential on stage. I was looking for an agent, and voila, I was cast to play the part of Carolyn Mason. She was the perfect soul to play, especially when I saw her kissing you that night on that pier, the way you held her so soft and warm in your arms, the way you cared for her…it reminded me of a fairytale. A fairytale soon doomed to die because fairytales don't exist. A cold hard lesson I have been trying to teach her for a decade."

Brandt's lips twisted into a frown as his heart dropped. "Agent Blair?" he asked.

"He was designed to infiltrate her life, and mess it up just a tiny bit," Gina said. "When he truly thought he loved her, that was a bonus. I just had to give him the right leverage and coaxing mechanisms to give him the right push."

"Drugs," Benji said, remembering Charlie's past profile.

"Yup," Gina nodded.

"Why?" Luther asked.

Gina turned to face Luther, "You'd have to ask her that you big hunk of handsome."

Luther narrowed his dark eyes at her and growled so low it sent chills and shivers of slight fear and thrill up and down her spine.

"Where's Lane?" Brandt asked.

Gina was about to open her mouth until Brandt's cell phone rang in his pocket. Gina closed her mouth shut and smiled, lifting her chin up at him. "You gonna get that?" she asked.

Brandt twisted his mouth in a frown and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Yeah," he said, putting his phone to his ear, turning slightly around, as Benji and Luther watched Gina. "Okay," he said. "We'll be there. And uh, Ethan?" he glanced behind him and looked at Gina. "You're not going to believe what we just found."

 **~*MI*~**

 **A/n: So, I really couldn't wait to write this chapter. It ended up being a lot different than I imagined, but I really like it. Brandt had to be the one to figure it out right away because he's awesome like that!**


	22. Chapter 21: Red Box

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am merely writing for fun and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy my lovely readers!**

 **Chapter 21: Red Box**

Brandt parked the jeep to a place that looked rather lackluster on the outside, but it was the perfect cover for a place to stay overnight until they could figure out their next move. It was a small motel with an open bar. A few locals sat in pairs underneath the overhang. Brandt's eyes traveled around the coral colored pillars with dirt splattered along the clay-like feel it had that surrounded him.

Luther pulled Gina out of the jeep by her arms that were tied behind her back as he shoved her forward in front of him. Benji followed not to long after that and together the three of them plus Gina walked inside the hot and steamy room.

Brandt stopped in his trek, noticing Ethan sitting at a table with three extra chairs waiting for them. He shared a small look with Luther just when Gina opened her mouth.

"Carolyn says hi by the way," Gina said.

Luther yanked her back against his chest, "Do you _want_ a concussion?" he demanded hotly in her ear.

Brandt walked around Luther and turned to face her. Gina was smiling almost madly to the point of mad hatter giggles.

"What did you say?" Brandt asked.

"She can see you, _moron_ ," Gina said. "She's been watching you the whole time."

Brandt stared at her and into her eyes. She blinked and within seconds after he could see the contact lens in her eyes. Shit. He thought. Brandt walked over to her. He leaned her head back and pulled out the contact lens in the palm of his hand. Benji walked beside him and took a look at the thing. He pinched it between his fingers.

Benji frowned, and looked at Gina. "I don't understand. How long have you been with us?"

"Since London," Ethan said, catching their attention.

Benji looked over at Ethan. "No, that's impossible. I had the real Carolyn in D.C. when we went to Vienna…" his voice trailed off in realization and at the sound of Gina's laughter. "That's when you made the switch. Vienna. I shouldn't have left her alone."

"Would've happened either way, Benji," Gina said. "I sent her on a trip to Vienna. That's how she got to Minsk. I was hoping Dimitri would finish the job. I didn't account for Ethan to rescue her. So, I stayed in London, and pretended to be her, while she was in D.C. as I'd hoped she would stay over there. I thought she would have at least _learned_ her lesson by now not to go on vacation, but I digress. She had her best friend Benji to thank," she said, looking at Benji who gulped, keeping his lips tight and swallowed hard when he listened to her story. "When that didn't work out, I waited for the right moment of opportunity to make my way into her life again, knowing she was bound to find you Ethan, at some point. I don't know, you have like that weird magnetic pull, you know?" she smiled at Ethan, over Brandt's shoulder.

"It's kind of poetic," she turned to face Brandt. "Anyway, I was more than happy to slip in and bring Carolyn to Lane, where she resides in the moment, watching, waiting for someone to come rescue her, but that moment is never going to come because she saw Ethan die in the Torus. And then I focused all my energy trying to break Benji, the cute little technician who wanted to make things right for his friend," she glared at Benji, who only smiled without regret in his soul. She sighed. "And I wanted to at least try to pull Agent Brandt apart, bone by bone, flesh by flesh, heartstring, by heartstring to the point where she wouldn't want you to come rescue her because you kissed me and now she'll beg for mercy, just like she begged for my brother's love to rid the hole you left her in her heart. She'll beg for Lane to kill her, to rid herself from the pain, swelling like a deep depression inside of her heart."

Brandt scoffed, and shook his head. Benji tossed the lens on the ground and stomped on it with the sole of his shoe, breaking it to pieces. Benji had never felt so guilty in his life until now. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, and how he'd been so stupid to bring Carolyn along, thinking it would be a fun little outing instead of bringing her into this mess. She should have stayed away. And now Brandt was going to kill him.

Brandt took out a silver piece of tape and unfolded it from his pocket. He walked over to Gina and plastered the tape on her pretty little mouth to keep from talking anymore.

Luther brought Gina over to an empty chair by the wall and sat her there, fixing her restraints on her wrists so that she wouldn't be able to get out.

Benji, Luther, and Brandt settled down in their seats to join Ethan in somber and quiet moods. The look on Brandt's face was brooding as he breathed in deep and out, trying to control his anger and feelings of raw emotion inside his soul that he hadn't felt in a very long time. Duped. Brandt thought. Duped, castrated, played with, all by one single woman who had managed to succeed into getting him riled up. Brandt turned his chair around and leaned his chin on his folded hands across the top of the chair.

He'd felt lost before, and distraught, but not like this. Carolyn was in the hands of a terrorist. His Carolyn was probably scared, and frightened, and he could only imagine what Lane was doing her. He didn't want to imagine it. He didn't want to imagine any of the images that entered his mind when Gina had told him the truth. He couldn't think like that. He had to find a way to get to Carolyn, and bring everyone home safe and sound, but how? And how long had Ethan known this wasn't the real Carolyn? Why did Ethan continue to allow her to stay this long? He had to have some sort of plan up his sleeve that he wasn't letting the team know. It was the only explanation for it.

"So, what do we do now?" Luther asked.

Ethan looked at Luther and then over to Benji. "Please tell me you made a copy of that disc."

Benji sighed, and looked at Ethan as he pulled it out of his pocket. He smiled. "Of _course_ I made a copy. Do you have a way to get our Carolyn back?" he asked, tightening his grip on the disc.

Ethan smirked. "What do you think?" he said.

Benji smiled.

"So," Brandt said, coming to the conclusion that Ethan had a plan to end this. "Where are we going?" he asked, looking at him.

Ethan pulled out a tiny piece of paper and unfolded it. He placed the crumpled paper on the wooden square table. Brandt ran his hands along the dots on the piece of paper that he calculated as a message, but it was a message in code, a message in code and what it appeared to be landscapes to describe a foreign city. Brandt raised an eyebrow at the message. "Morse code?" he asked.

"It's a message from Carolyn," Ethan said with a smile. "Guess where we're going?" he said.

Behind the boys, Gina's ears perked up, listening to what they had to say about Carolyn. Damn. Gina thought. How?

Brandt's heart flip-flopped, and he could've sighed with relief right there that Carolyn wasn't completely lost, at least she was still there, but how long was that going to last? They had to get to her and they would. They would rescue her, no matter what Gina said. He's lips curled into a smile on his face when Ethan turned to face Benji.

~*MI*~

 **London, England**

The clock on the Big Ben rang through the city of London, letting every traveler know that it was nine in the morning. Clouds covered the city, not a single ray of sunlight poked through as Ilsa walked at a brisk pace along the streets with her hand in her pocket. Her hair was up in a curled bun, and she was dressed in a casual black blouse with black slacks and a nice warm coat to keep the morning chill at bay. She drew in a deep breath. She was taking a big risk in helping Ethan, but she didn't regret it. He was an ally and the girl she found back in Vienna after the Turnadot scenario seemed important to him, almost like a sister of some sort. She didn't know how close they were but she'd mentioned him in their brief moment that they had, a small window where the girl gave her the piece of paper so she could give it to Ethan. Ilsa had to admit that this girl could've passed on as an agent like herself, but she appeared to be an innocent bystander in all of this mess, and she could only hope that Ethan would get her out, and now it was time for Ilsa to get herself out of this mess as she walked over to the bench that sat across the Thames River to meet her handler, Attlee.

Ilsa placed the disc on the newspaper beside Attlee, who looked away from the boats along the river and turned to face his subordinate.

"It's a ledger," Ilsa said finally.

Attlee fixed the brims of his spectacles on his nose and pushed them further so they wouldn't fall when he listened to her newfound Intel of the Syndicate.

"The Syndicate's entire infrastructure," she said and he looked down at her through his wide glasses. "Who they are, the politicians, who they control, and where the money comes from," she said, turning to face Attlee. "It's everything you want to know."

"And what makes you think this so called ledger is authentic?" Attlee asked.

"Why would Lane want it so badly if it wasn't authentic?" she countered back.

"Why would Lane have it if it was?" Attlee said. "Did you ever stop to consider that he may want me to have it?"

Ilsa furrowed her brows at this. She blinked at the silver disc on the newspaper.

"Misinformation, manipulation, it's what he does Ilsa," Attlee explained as if he was coaxing a small feared child. "It's what he's trained to do. Lane lies to you; you sell these lies to Hunt. Together, you are both compromised. That's his ultimate objective. This may be authentic, but there's only one person I trust to verify that information… _you_ ," he said.

"No," Ilsa said, shaking her head. It was a mere whisper when she spoke. She wasn't going to go back. She'd done her job. "My orders were to deliver you information regarding the Syndicate."

"You're orders were to infiltrate the Syndicate so that we may learn more about them first hand," Attlee said. "This isn't proof; this is a test, like everything else. The only way to pass is to go back."

"I can't do that," Ilsa said. "I have betrayed Lane's trust too many times," she said.

"And in every instance, you did so on your own violation," Attlee reminded her.

"He was going to torture and kill an American agent, right in front of an American civilian," Ilsa said, turning to face him.

"And you should have let him," Attlee said. "And you would still have Lane's trust. This is the trade! Hunt understands that."

"I wasn't going to let him die, he's our ally!" Ilsa said. "And certainly not in front of an innocent civilian."

"There are no ally's in statecraft, only common interests," Attlee said. "And if one innocent civilian happens to get in the middle of it, it's a casualty we must live with, and move on from our mistakes," Attlee said. "As it stands," he continued. "Ethan Hunt is a man without a country. This makes killing him decidingly less complicated."

"Are you ordering me to kill Hunt and Mason?" Ilsa asked, as her eyes went wide at Attlee's notional matter.

"Oh, good God no! Nothing so crude as that no," Attlee said. "Lane will order you. And to regain his trust, you will do it."

Ilsa drew in a silent deep breath, at this new turn of events laying out before her. This wasn't right. She shook her head and looked over at Attlee with fierce blue eyes.

"You sent me to do a job, I did it, now you bring me in," Ilsa said.

"Might I remind you that you are without a country of your own?" Attlee said.

Ilsa gave him a disdainful look and got up from her seat, and sighed, glancing the other way.

"The director of the CIA called me, querying about you personally. Of course to protect your cover, I had to lie," he said. "So as far as the Americans are concerned, you are a rogue assassin, a target of opportunity," Attlee explained, as he watched her face fall at the news riding through her. "Precious few people know about your true identity. It'd be unfortunate…if we forgot. You see there really is no choice Ilsa. You're going back."

Ilsa glared at Attlee, and looked down at the disc then at him again before she took the disc and put it in her pocket.

Ilsa placed a hand in her pocket, listening to Attlee's warning words spew out of his mouth. She glared at him, and started to walk forward down the street but stopped when Attlee spoke again, "Glad to know you're still with us."

It's not like she had a choice, Ilsa thought angrily. She was going to have to find Lane, and find a way to get herself out of this mess.

~*MI*~

Later that afternoon, in an abandoned warehouse, Luther worked on trying to decipher the disc on his laptop.

Brandt was on Gina watch this time, who was sitting in her chair, eating a hot steaming bowl of porridge that Ethan was so gracious enough to give her. Now that they had the upper hand in this, Ethan was devising a plan to get Carolyn back. Maybe they could do a trade off of some sort to get her back.

And their only hope right now was to find out what's on the disc and why Lane wants it so badly.

He ran a hand over his face, staring out at the window. He sighed. He wanted Carolyn back so much it hurt. He was probably way out of line for thinking about his feelings towards her but the silence wasn't helping the situation so he tried to think of her instead that seemed to calm him down, just a little bit when he thought of her. Was she thinking about him? Was she okay? How hurt was she? Did Lane find out about her Morse code? Would that have put her in a terrible bind? Brandt's thoughts were running on a tangent and he didn't know that he could care about someone so much again like this. She'd told him that he brought her back to life, and in retrospect, so did she. And Brandt was relieved to hear that she was clean. She wasn't attached to anyone. She was still Carolyn Mason, the one he fell for before he went on this crazy mission. It was all a lie. Did Carolyn know? Brandt had to wonder. He was going to get her back, that's all he knew. He had to get her back. He hoped to Hell that Carolyn wasn't as depressed as Gina said she'd be. A lot could happen in a week, especially if one was rooted to the ground next to a terrorist.

"I can't open it," Luther said finally, breaking the analyst's thoughts, bringing him back to reality.

"What do you mean you can't open it?" Ethan said in a rush.

"I mean, I can't open it, _ever_ ," Luther said, as Ethan walked over to face the computer screen lap top.

"That's a red box," Benji said that caught Brandt's attention. He turned to face them.

"A _what_?" Brandt demanded.

"It's a red box," Ethan said. "The British government uses it to transport secrets."

Brandt glanced at Gina who smiled up at him from eating her porridge that was better than having no food at all. He scowled at her in disgust while she licked her spoon in delight, happy to have some food in her system since their arrival in London. He looked over at Ethan. "Doesn't sound good," Brandt said.

"Means its triple encrypted," Benji said, as Ethan took a seat behind Luther and Benji. "You're not getting into that thing unless you have fingerprints, retinal scanner, and a voice phrase spoken by a specific individual."

"The Prime Minister," Gina began at the same time Ethan spoke. Ethan looked up at her sharply and she swallowed in her food to keep quiet.

"Of great Brittan himself," Ethan said.

"Yes, _him_ ," Benji said, leaning up from his chair beside Luther.

"So what you're saying is," Brandt began, turning around to lean against a piece of pewter metal with his arms crossed over his chest. "There is no ledger, which means we have no proof that the Syndicate even exists, so we're back to square one, only now we're all wanted by the CIA. I am _so_ proud of us," Brandt said.

"She can't help us?" Luther said, pointing to Gina who looked up from spooning her last bit of porridge around the bowl, licking every bite. She glanced at the boys who looked at her.

"She'd no sooner turn against a blind eye," Brandt said. "Makes a pretty damn good actress."

"Yes," Gina sighed. "What you boys fail to realize is that not only does Lane have a bailout for me, but I can also lie to your government, and ask for a pretty cute lawyer. You would need the real Carolyn to authenticate our existence as part of the puzzle. It would be a pity if the Bone Doctor just chopped her up in little pieces, put her in a casket and send to you as a present," she said, holding up her empty bowl to Brandt. Brandt got up from his seat and took the bowl away from her. He set it down onto the makeshift table next to her before he went back to tying up her hands around the chair again. Gina groaned at the biting wires against her skin and looked at him up and down, smiling at his close impact. "You know, I _liked_ that kiss," she said. "I liked it even better when you lingered against my skin for quite some time," she said, her interesting accent slipping out of her lips as if to act sultry and sexy towards him.

Brandt looked into her deep brown eyes and tightened the wires a little bit tighter against her wrists. She just smiled at him while he walked back over to his spot, crossing his arms over his chest, deliberately putting up barriers against her.

"What I don't understand is, why was there a red box sat in a private data vault in Morocco?" Benji said, pointing to the lap top in front of him and Luther.

"And why would Lane want it if he can't open it?" Luther said, placing his hand on his chin, in thinking mode.

"If Lane wants it, you can bet that he has a plan to open it," Benji said and sighed in realization, as it dawned on his tired facial features. "And we just helped him steal it."

Luther turned over his shoulder to look back at Ethan with wide eyes. "He's going to take the Prime Minister."

Ethan looked up at his fellow friend and nodded. "Yes he is," Ethan said, the wheels already clicking and working in his head like clockwork. "The question is how."

"Well, we have to warn the British government," Benji said.

"Yeah," Brandt said, leaning off of the metal round cylinder rooted to the floor. "MI:6," he said, already taking out his phone from his jean pocket.

"No, no," Ethan said, holding out his hand as if to stop him. "Brandt, put the phone down. Let's think about this for a second."

"We have a responsibility to warn the British government, and not gamble with the Prime Minister's life, _Ethan_ , just so that you can beat the guy that has beaten you at _every_ turn," Brandt said, stepping closer to the table to where Ethan sat beside Luther.

Ethan looked up at Brandt and furrowed his brows in confusion. He shrugged his hands in the air. "Is that what you think this is?" Ethan asked.

Brandt sighed, looking down at the floor, while Ethan looked at Benji and Luther. Benji looked at him a bit guiltily, placing his finger along his mouth in thought. Ethan never did tell them how they were planning on getting Carolyn back and he was slightly worried that that was going to be a gamble as well. He was her friend and he didn't want anything to happen to her, even with Ethan's crazy antic ways of defeating the bad guys. He wasn't sure what Luther thought about it, but Benji was on the fence. He wanted to be there for Ethan but at the same time, Brandt did make sense.

"I think right now, you are incapable of seeing that there's another way," Brandt said slowly. While he was worried for Carolyn's safety and for all of their lives, he still had to think rationally, especially when it came to the Prime Minister himself. That was a big deal. And Brandt wasn't about to let Ethan do something totally drastic to get the Prime Minister killed.

"And sometimes Ethan is the only one capable of seeing the _only_ way," Luther said.

"And if he is _wrong_ , we have Vienna all over again!" Brandt said, his voice bouncing off the walls in an angry echo that made Gina jump in her chair. She smirked at Brandt's thought process hanging in the air out of his beautiful lips. She could easily escape, and start over again to infiltrate Carolyn's life. She'd just make sure to be better at it next time and take drastic measures to go full Carolyn Mason. She didn't realize Carolyn had gotten a scar on her lip from the bombings of the Kremlin.

Gina let out a sigh, "Somebody needs Yoga lessons," she commented lightly. Brandt glared over at her and she smiled up at him, swaying her head slightly in a teasing manner.

"No," Ethan said, stepping out of his chair and walking over to Brandt to make him see reason. "You don't know him. If he wants something to happen, like taking Carolyn for example," he pointed to Gina. "There is no preventing it!" Ethan said.

"That's why we have to warn the British!" Brandt said.

"Maybe that's exactly what he wants us to do!" Ethan said.

Benji glanced at the two of them fighting in the middle of the room, which kind of reminded him of Dubai, except this time no guns were involved. He frowned. Where was Carolyn when you needed her? She'd know exactly how to settle this.

"Are you listening to yourself?" Brandt asked, pointing at Ethan. "We are going to _warn_ the British."

"No," Ethan said. "We're going to find Lane, find Carolyn, and we are going to get him before he takes the Prime Minister."

Brandt drew in a deep breath and let it out, shoulders slumping as he breathed in deeply, and glanced at his phone in his hands. "Okay," he said, realizing that Ethan was going to use every angle to get him to go along with it, even Carolyn. "Alright, Ethan. We're going to find Lane," he said calmly and rationally as he possibly could get, and tossed his phone on the table. " _Please_ tell me, how are we going to do that? She won't talk," Brandt said, pointing to Gina behind him.

Then in the silence of the argument that had died between Ethan and Brandt, a signal sounded from Luther's tablet. They both glanced at the tablet on the table that read Searching… at the top of the screen and found Ilsa's profile picture on the side of the view of the infamous London Bridge.

"We don't need her to," Ethan said, and they glanced at the tablet on the table that read Ilsa Faust found and spotted in London.


	23. Chapter 22: A Grave Feat

**Disclaimer: I do not own MI. Mission Impossible belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun, and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy! Thank you for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing!**

 **Chapter 22: A grave feat**

Carolyn looked out the windows of the SUV. Lane sat next to her in the backseat of the car while his men drove through the quiet graveyard in the late cloudy morning. Her heart was thumping against her chest as they drove agonizingly slow through the rows and rows of crosses and gravestones all lined up before her worried and tired eyes, that hurt and stung because she hadn't slept in a long time, due to her anxiety. She had a grave look on her face. This was it. She thought. She was going to get killed today, and Lane was going to bury her here in a British graveyard. She chewed her bottom lip tentatively and pulled a strand of hair out of her eyes. She leaned against the door and peered outside; looking at the gravestones lined up in rows and rows of death that stenched the air.

She was going to die. That's the only thing that kept repeating in her head as she looked at the caskets resting on high table-like rock structures. She wondered if he'd already had one measured out for her. It was the perfect way to dump a body who didn't want to be found. No one would ever suspect to find Carolyn in a British graveyard. Not even Brandt. She thought she'd given everything they needed to finish the mission, but she'd seen Ethan die in that Torus, and she'd seen Brandt kiss Gina acting like her, acting exactly like her it was almost uncanny.

And in all honesty, Carolyn really didn't blame Brandt for not paying attention, for not seeing that it wasn't really her. She hadn't been entirely truthful with him, and she'd treated him badly ever since Hunley mentioned Charlie Blair, her ex-fiancé that had been somehow apart of the Syndicate.

So, it was only fair that Carolyn would die today. No one would rescue her, and she would die at the mercy of a terrorist, who was trying to bring about change. She shivered at the unnerving thought in the back of her mind. This was not the kind of change she wanted. But, Carolyn had no choice. She was stuck in limbo, and soon she would beg for him to kill her because she was fine with it. She'd come to terms with death, and while she still struggled the idea of dying today, she could easily fall into Lane's blade, and let her memory die with him. She couldn't bear to live with the thought of Brandt and Gina together. If that's what he really wanted, fine, she would die with that notion, die with the thoughts in her head that Brandt had moved on, and so did Carolyn. She moved on to a better place. Gina got her wish. Carolyn had no life. She had no one to fight for. Charlie Blair was dead, who turned out to be someone she thought she could love, and save herself, but didn't. And now she was loosing Brandt too. The one man who had brought her to life after Blair's declaration of death, after Carolyn had tried to pick up the pieces and pulled her own life together, she lost Agent William Brandt. A man who was the every bit of charming, strong, kind, and endearing, not to mention gorgeous... she'd lost him forever. She'd lost herself forever. Her life didn't matter anymore. Ethan and Benji were gone. Gina and Lane had won. She sighed. She thought Ilsa would be able to help her, but maybe she was wrong about that too. She thought she knew people, but then again Carolyn had proved time and time again that she wasn't very good at it like she thought she was. She was just gullible, and now she was numb. She didn't bring anything to the world. Blair had been right all along. She _was_ worthless. She couldn't even get out of her own mess. If she couldn't get out herself, she might as well just die. It seemed like a good idea right now to let Lane kill her, knowing that the world would move on without her because she'd screwed everything up. It was her only saving grace to let Lane kill her.

The black SUV that Carolyn was in pulled to a slow stop by the curbed side of the road. Vinter and his partner pulled out of the driver and passenger seats. Vinter opened Carolyn's door He offered her his hand with the silver ring that he wore, in which he was famous for down in the criminal underworld.

She gulped, and stepped out of the car, reluctantly taking his cold hand in his as she stepped onto the ledge shakily, and stumbled over her heels. Vinter's arms circled around her so she didn't fall, and she glared up at him. The sad part is, she didn't even try to wretch out of his arms. He let go of her and she straightened her tailored suit and smoothed out the wavy locks of her hair that cascaded her shoulders.

Vinter's partner carried a mini-laptop in his hands while Vinter walked over to Ilsa who was waiting for them. Carolyn frowned, as she stayed beside Lane's side.

What was happening? She wondered, as Ilsa handed a silver disc in her hand to Vinter. Vinter also asked for her gun in silence, and she reluctantly pulled it out of her coat pocket. She looked over directly at Carolyn as she did so, and winked at her.

She chewed her bottom lip and furrowed her brows, as Vinter and his partner took the disc to check it on top of the hood on the parked SUV. Ilsa looked over at Lane.

"All is forgiven," Lane said with a simple shrug of his shoulders.

"That isn't the ledger is it?" Ilsa asked.

"You didn't take a look for yourself?" Lane asked, stepping closer toward her.

Carolyn listened between Lane and Ilsa.

"Of course I did, but the file was encrypted," Ilsa replied.

"And why would I lie to you?" Lane said, tilting his head to the side.

"So that I would lie to Hunt," Ilsa said.

Carolyn turned her head from mustache-man typing onto the Dell laptop, trying to open up whatever it was on that disc.

Ethan? She thought, her heart shuddered against her chest. He was still alive?

"But he wouldn't have stolen it, if he knew what it was," Lane said, stepping closer towards her, a little too close for Ilsa's comfort zone. He leaned forward, "And you wouldn't have helped him."

"What is actually on that disc?" Ilsa said, glancing at Carolyn's hopeful gasp that left her lips. Lane glared at Carolyn, and pulled Isla along with him, walking away from Carolyn, walking down the road-covered leaves.

Carolyn sighed, and shifted her weight on her heels. She hugged her arms as the cool morning wind breezed past her. Ilsa was good, Carolyn thought. She knew that when the woman had come talked to her, curious about her and why Lane had kept her secret and hidden from Ethan Hunt for so long. It was an elaborate scheme, that's what Carolyn was slowly coming to terms with, in what she could only assume was a vendetta against her and her alone. The fact Gina was part of the Syndicate, was a bonus.

And to hear that there was a possibility that Ethan was alive, put hope back into her dying heart. Maybe Carolyn could get out of this. Maybe she didn't have to die today…but why was Ilsa still here? Lane could've killed her at any time and now she couldn't hear what they were saying. She'd been a good listener up until this point. She bit her bottom lip as she watched the two walk down the road and stop briefly so that they were out of earshot.

Carolyn looked at Vinter and his partner who was distracted by the laptop, and took a few daring and careful steps closer so she could try to hear what Lane was talking about but it was only faint.

"But you and I both know why you've come back, don't we? Huh? You're still alive because I believe in your potential, but I'm growing impatient," Lane said. "Why do you continue to resist?"

They turned and started to walk again. Carolyn frowned and decided to take her chance to creep forward, in hopes she could hear what they were saying about Ethan and the disc. Ethan was her only hope right now, and if Ethan was alive, Benji had to be. They just _had_ to be, she thought desperately.

"Well, if we're being honest," Ilsa said as they walked together. "You're a terrorist."

"If that were true then my goal would be to spread fear, but my methods are far more surgical,' Lane said.

Ilsa frowned. "You kill innocent people," she said.

Carolyn crept closer toward them, swallowing hard, and ducked behind a gravestone when Ilsa's eyes wandered around her grave surroundings.

He stopped walking, and turned to face her. "I help my government kill many innocent people and oh, _so_ much more…" he said with a slight smile across his face. "Killing to keep things as they were, and now I'm killing to bring about change."

Ilsa stared at him and read his facial expression that was void of any emotion. "I think Ethan Hunt would disagree," she said.

"Yes! You _know_ he would!" Carolyn said excitedly, popping out from her hiding spot, although a little too excitedly, because Vinter had suddenly grabbed the back of her suit's collar and yanked her back toward him, dragging her back to the SUV. She winced at the rough handling he had on her. He was about to shove her back into the SUV, but Lane snapped his fingers at Vinter. He shook his head. Carolyn frowned as Vinter held onto her arm beside the car, while his partner tapped into the disc on the laptop.

"Ethan Hunt is a gambler," Lane said, continuing after silence filtered the graveyard. "And one day his luck will run out, and thousands of innocent people will die. Which one of us will be the villain then?"

Vinter's partner handed him the disc, while Carolyn crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at the two men in front of her. "Watch her," Vinter said, and the mustache-man nodded. He grabbed her arm beside him, and pulled her close while Vinter walked over to Lane.

Lane looked over at Vinter as he waited quietly for Lane to finish talking. He shrugged, looking at the disc in his hand. "Nothing here," Vinter informed Lane. "It's empty."

Ilsa looked at Vinter, and frowned, as her eyes danced up and down his tough exterior. Her eyes landed on the empty disc… no, she thought, it couldn't be. She turned to face Lane suddenly.

Lane brought his large hand to her face, and she froze, staring at him in his eyes, as her heart beat against her chest.

"No! Leave her alone!" Carolyn said, but the mustache-man gripped her tight and kept her from moving to help Ilsa.

Ilsa stayed where was as his hand ran along her pale face, his fingers feeling like poison at the touch. He gripped her jaw tight in his hands. She stepped back slightly. "I'm interested," he said. "To see who you blame for what happens next."

He looked from Ilsa to Carolyn who just gulped when she stared into his eyes. Whatever it was that was about to happen, Carolyn did not like the look on his face, not one bit.

~*MI*~


	24. Chapter 23: Three Choices

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun and not for profit.**

 **Enjoy my lovely readers!**

 **Chapter 23: Three Choices**

Carolyn didn't know what was happening, but at this moment and time, the next morning, she was in the hands of Ilsa Faust, and together they were speed walking through a wave of crowded people inside the train station. Her heart was pounding against her chest, and confusion swelled within her. She hadn't much time to get herself ready in the morning, so she probably looked like an utter mess, but she didn't care. She just cared about what was happening to her and each time she'd try to ask Ilsa what was going on, she would get a brush off until finally, Carolyn stopped for a moment to catch her breath.

Ilsa frowned, and turned slightly. "We don't have a lot of time," she said.

"Where are we going?" Carolyn asked breathlessly. "I can't feel my feet in these shoes," she said with a frown. She leaned against Ilsa's shoulder and used her shoulder so that she could pull off her two-tone colored heels for a brief moment as she scanned the crowd that came to and from. "That's better," she sighed with relief as she took out her feet to give them some sort of breather.

"There's been a change of plan," Ilsa said. "Need to keep moving," she said, tugging Carolyn's arm along. She sighed, and placed her swollen feet back inside them and shifted her weight along her heels.

"What do you mean?" Carolyn asked, furrowing her brows at the mystery woman. "I thought Gina wanted to be in place of me."

"There's more to it than that, I'm afraid," Ilsa said. "A lot more. Lane's got something special planned. I'm more or less here to deliver a message, a trade off, if you will, to Ethan Hunt."

Carolyn widened her eyes. So he _was_ alive. She sighed, and chewed her bottom lip with a little bit of hope she had in her heart now. "What about Gina?" she asked. "What'll happen to her?"

"I'll take her back to Lane," Ilsa said as she gripped Carolyn's arm and pulled her along at a brisk pace. "And Lane will deal with her."

Carolyn's lips curled into a frown, at the recent memory of Gina kissing Brandt, and her heart twinged. "Meaning, she succeeded," she said. "She set out what she was planned to do. She already won."

Ilsa frowned as she listened to Carolyn's words. She wanted to know what was going on between Gina and Carolyn, but her time had run short because Ethan Hunt was standing right there in the middle of her trek.

Carolyn's eyes landed on Ethan and she smiled with the utmost relief she could possibly contain in her little soul. There he was. Her super-spy. She never felt more elated than right then and now, and could leap into his arms, hadn't it been for her current situation, because Gina was also standing right beside him with his arm holding hers. Gina's eyes were dark and glowering at Carolyn as they stared down at each other.

Ilsa gripped Carolyn's arm tight and pulled her away from Ethan's direction, and looked behind her. Carolyn also turned to face Benji who was waving at them. Benji winked at Carolyn, and she smiled.

Ilsa then turned at another direction only to find Brandt, leaning against the wall, wearing sunglasses, and holding onto a magazine in his hands as if he was trying to blend in with the crowd. His eyes landed on Ilsa then Carolyn, and her heart sped faster against her chest almost to the speed of lightning. There he was, Agent William Brandt, her heart and soul, just a few feet out of reach.

Her smile faded though, when she felt Gina's eyes tear into her skin, reminding her that they'd kissed, and that Gina had manipulated her boys to the fullest right down to the shared kiss between Gina and Brandt. Carolyn looked away, shamefully, and looked over to see Luther standing beside a phone booth, pretending like he was on the phone. Carolyn had never been so happy to see him in her life.

Carolyn licked her dry lips and suddenly felt pulled against her will, as Ethan and Ilsa traded Gina and Carolyn. Their eyes met and flicked over at one another before Gina felt Ilsa's hand on her wrist. Gina sat down beside Ilsa while Ethan sat Carolyn down beside him.

"So, that's her?" Brandt asked on ear-comm.

"That's her," Benji said, eyeing the four people at the table carefully as he placed his hand within his pocket.

"I have to say," Ethan said, leaning back in his seat. "You sure can ride."

Ilsa smiled. "Ethan," she began, but Ethan stopped her.

"You were just doing your job," Ethan said. "That's all that we're going to say about it."

"Attlee said you would understand," Ilsa said. .

"Attlee, you're handler, British Intelligence," Ethan said.

Ilsa nodded, tilting her head just slightly.

"And he didn't bring you in," Ethan said. "Even after you gave him the disc."

"You knew perfectly well it was blank," Ilsa said.

"Uh, that's a lie," Benji said through Ethan's ear-comm. "The disc we took from her was an exact copy, I'm sure of it."

"Was it in your possession the entire time?" Ethan said, slightly furrowing his brows.

Ilsa tried to remember when she had set the disc down and blinked as the sudden realization had dawned on her face. Ethan was right. She'd put the disc down on the folded piece of newspaper that was on the bench right between her and Attlee. He could've erased the files at any point and time in their conversation yesterday morning.

Ilsa let out a small sigh and scoff, coming to a sad conclusion of her story. "They don't care if you live or die," she said.

Carolyn's lips curled into a frown at those words, and looked down at the table. Gina also looked down at the table, mirroring Carolyn's movements.

Ilsa leaned forward. "But you knew I was going to take it to him."

"I hoped you would," Ethan said. "I hoped it would be enough to get you out."

" _Whoa, whoa, whoa, that means Lane doesn't have the disc_ ," Benji said on ear-comm. " _Only we do_."

" _I have a question_ ," Brandt said. _"If the disc was blank, why is she still alive? Why the trade off here, and now? Unless of course…Lane wanted us to find her, and take Carolyn back…not that I'm not entirely grateful for her being back with us…there's more to it, right?_ "

Ethan listened to his team and glanced between Gina and Carolyn, and then Gina again who smiled at him. Ethan blinked and looked at Ilsa. "So, who are you working for now?"

"Lane, Attlee, your government, my government," Ilsa said. "They're all the same. We only think we're fighting for the right side because that's what we choose to believe."

"So, where's that leave us?" Ethan asked.

"The way I see it," Ilsa said, glancing at Carolyn and Gina before she leaned back in her seat. "You have three choices. One, you had me, Gina, and the disc over to the CIA. Gina and I are proof that the Syndicate exists, Lane becomes their problem and you're work is done," she said.

" _My thoughts exactly_ ," Brandt said, looking up from his magazine.

" _Works for me_ ," Benji agreed.

"But you know they're not going to believe you," Ilsa said. "And you'll all be tried for treason."

Carolyn made a disgust face at that and did not want that to happen at all. Gina also made a disgust face.

"Lane goes free," Ilsa said.

Luther ran a finger along side his temple in thought. "I'm _afraid she does have a point._ "

"Two, you let me and Gina walk away to an uncertain fate," Ilsa said, but she saw Carolyn's fingers ball up into a fist and winced. "You use the disc as bait to trap lane, but some part of you have met your match, and being a gambler, you'll probably end up handing Lane that disc whether you want to or not."

" _That is entirely possible_ ," Benji said.

"And option three?" Ethan asked.

Ilsa smiled. "Come away with me," she said. "Right now."

" _Oh boy_ ," Luther said, glancing at the four of them around the table.

"What about Lane?" Ethan asked.

"What about Gina?" Carolyn glared at Gina.

"Forget about Lane, and Gina! There will always be another Lane, and Gina, just like there will always be people like us to face them," she motioned a quick nod over to Carolyn who arched her eyebrows curiously at the woman. Ilsa sighed. "We've done our part, and we've been cast aside. We can be anyone, we can do anything," she said. "It's only a matter of going."

Ethan listened to her words, registering in his ears. His heart twinged at the temptation laid out before him. He looked into her eyes and she smiled at him. He could just go with her, and he could just leave this to the rest of his team and make Lane and Gina their problem, but in reality, he just couldn't leave, not just yet, not when they were so close, not when they could finish this together, right here and now. It didn't feel right. He glanced sideways to look at Carolyn who was staring at Ethan and Ilsa, waiting for an answer, waiting to hear that he would say yes, but he wasn't going to. While he was grateful to have Carolyn back, it was too easy. Something was off. Way off.

"Lane sent you to deliver a message, didn't he?" Ethan said finally.

"I saved your life twice," Ilsa said. "I won't be able to do it again."

"What's the message?" Ethan asked.

Carolyn frowned as she watched Ilsa pull out a phone from her pocket, and placed it on the table. Carolyn watched with wide eyes and solemn determination to try and understand what was going on. She couldn't shake the bad feeling she was having at that moment.

As soon as Ethan reached for the side of the phone, he cringed as a loud piercing like noise stung his ears, and the team's ear's as they all cringed at the noise interfering with their frequency over their earpieces.

Carolyn widened her eyes and scooted her chair back a bit, "What is it?" she asked.

Ethan stood up on his feet, taking Carolyn with him, threading his fingers through her hand. She leaned against his shoulder in fear as they turned around to search for Benji. "Benji," Ethan said.

Carolyn gasped, and turned around at the same time Ethan turned to face Ilsa, only to find Gina had suddenly disappeared and Isla had a red mark on her face. Ilsa pressed the palm of her hand to the side of her cheek with a questionable look on her face with a frown.

Carolyn glanced around her and shared a worried look with Ethan. Gina was nowhere to be found, and her heart sunk. "Gina's gone," Carolyn whispered.

All of a sudden, Ethan's phone rang and he pulled up the image of a video that had appeared in front of him. Carolyn looked at it with a deep frown and saw Benji shoved on the ground, loosing his glasses.

Carolyn gasped as Benji got tossed inside a van. The door closed and the image switched to Vinter, the Bone Doctor who winked at him. The image changed to what it appeared to be a parking garage. "Parking garage," Ethan informed.

"I'm going after him!" Carolyn said, kicking her shoes off. She started running in the other direction. Benji couldn't be the trade off. That wasn't fair. That wasn't fair at all.

"Luther, stay with her," Ethan said, pointing to Ilsa who glanced back at Luther across the way.

Luther tried to push his way through the people but they pushed back as he tried to get to Ilsa, by the time he got to the table, she was gone. He sighed.

Meanwhile, Carolyn, Ethan, and Brandt ran as fast as they could inside the garage. Carolyn was hot with adrenaline pulsating through her as she tried to get to Benji from the black van. She was so close, but Vinter had sped up, and she was about to try to push further until Ethan pulled her back, tripping on her feet as she stumbled back into Ethan's chest, and curled arms around her. "But…but…we have to…" she said breathlessly. She tried to rip away from him, but Ethan held her arms, shaking in his and he nodded. "I know," Ethan whispered tenderly. "I know, we'll get him back, I promise," he said. Carolyn had the utmost look of worry written in her features as she watched the van take off with her best friend inside.

Carolyn held onto Ethan for support as her lungs felt ready to burst. She was breathing hard and her legs felt like they were on fire, but she wanted to get to Benji.

"She's gone," Luther said, catching up to the three of them. "I lost her," he said, trying to catch his breath.

Ethan, Carolyn, and Brandt turned around to face Luther, listening to the screeching tires behind them. She winced as they turned around, disappearing for good with Benji inside of it. She never felt more used in her entire life right now. And she never felt guiltier.

Brandt took off his sunglasses, clutching them tight in his hands, and glared at Ethan. "She set us up, Ethan," he said, through clenched teeth.

"No," Ethan said, shaking his head. "She delivered a message."

"She set us up!" Brandt said, as his voice echoed angrily throughout the garage's walls. "She _knew_ this would happen," Brandt said, pacing in a circle. He ran his hand over his face, trying to calm down.

Luther and Carolyn shared a worried glance at one another.

" _Only_ Lane knows what's going to happen," Ethan said, trying to explain it to Brandt.

Carolyn looked at Ethan with a small frown on her face. It was true, they had a really bad situation on their hands, a really bad one, but Ethan was right. From her time with Lane, he'd been one step ahead of Ethan. There were times when it felt like it was just a game to Lane, like Lane had picked his target, Ethan Hunt, who wanted to break him just as he'd broken her with the help of an old nemesis from the past. He'd done a pretty good job of it.

"Brandt..." Carolyn began and Brandt looked up at her, but she was cut off by Ethan's phone ringing in their ears, silencing them all off from talking to each other.

Ethan looked down at the cell phone in his hand with the zero plus sign. Lane's number.

" _I have a job for you Ethan_ ," Lane said as soon as Ethan put his phone to his ear.

Carolyn crossed her arms over her chest, and hugged herself for warmth, feeling cold.

" _And for the sake of your friend, you will do it_ ," Lane continued.

"I'm listening," Ethan said.

" _Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to bring me the unlocked disc by midnight tonight. Now say the words please_ ," Lane said.

Ethan drew in a deep shaky breath. "I accept," he replied.

" _Yes_ ," Lane said. " _I knew you would_."

Ethan pulled his phone slowly away from his ear. "He wants the disc, unlocked by midnight tonight."

Brandt was shaking his head at Ethan, unable to believe how far they'd come just now, and how dangerous and insane this was.

Carolyn frowned too, unsure that she liked this plan of his, but it didn't seem like they had any other choice, and Carolyn wanted Benji back more than anything. She was actually willing to go with Ethan, to go as far as trading her life for Benji's, especially when Gina was still unaccounted for.

"Ethan, there's only one person on Earth who can unlock that disc," Luther said.

"The Prime Minister," Carolyn said, biting her lower lip worriedly.

Ethan nodded at her words hanging dangerously in the air. "We have to take the Prime Minister."

Brandt let out a low chuckle. "Let's just think about that for a minute," he said.

Carolyn tilted her head to the side, and looked at Brandt, pursing her lips to the side. "What's there to think about?" she asked. Brandt blinked at her curiously.

"It's the only way to get Benji back," Ethan said, in agreement with Carolyn.

"Or, I could go back to Lane," Carolyn said suddenly and Brandt's eyes darted over toward her like she was crazy. Had his team gone mad?

"Make it an even trade off…" Carolyn suggested, eyes dancing up and down Ethan's form as Ethan seemed stuck in thinking mode.

Ethan shook his head. "But then you would be in Benji's situation," Ethan said. "He'd use any one of us to get to what he wants."

Carolyn frowned. She hadn't thought of that. Lane knew what buttons to push and he knew taking Benji would drive Ethan over the edge. Taking Carolyn was never about the disc, it was always about what Gina wanted and her sadistic vendetta against her, or at least that's what Carolyn had come to the conclusion. Meeting Lane was chance, and she did not like Lane one bit. She didn't like the fact that Benji was with him now. It should be her in that position, not Benji, her dear and sweet friendly Benji who just wanted her to be happy. Carolyn looked down and felt even more awful for the fact that she was here, and Benji was with Lane. She could only imagine what Lane was going to do to Benji and she hated to say it, and go against Brandt, but she was with Ethan on this one. And if Gina laid one hand on Benji's hair, she swore to God that Gina was going to get another thing coming to her.

"Ethan," Brandt said, trying to talk sense into him. "That's _exactly_ what Lane wants you to do."

"Which is why it _has_ to happen," Ethan said. "This is how we beat Lane; this is how we make everything right. Can't you see it?" he asked, stepping closer to Brandt. Carolyn listened to his straining words, and felt like she was the only one on Ethan's side right now. She looked at Brandt with a heartrending face. "Can't you see it?"

Brandt's eyes traveled around the room from Ethan, to Luther, to Carolyn, who gave him a small nod. He frowned. There was a rift of tension in the room, but at that moment it was three against one. He looked down on the ground and sighed, tightening his sunglasses in his hands until his knuckles turned white.


	25. Chapter 24: Brandt's Terms

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am just writing for fun and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy my lovely readers!**

 **Chapter 24: Brandt's Terms**

Agent Hunley sat in his comfortable seat, flipping through all the Intel he'd received from his source. He was inside his plane, flying high above the mountains, searching high and low for Ethan Hunt. He landed on two sketches sketched out by Ethan Hunt himself. Hunley was going to find him, and then he would arrest his friends too. He flipped the page on the tablet to a profile picture of Ilsa Faust that read Disavowed. It was everything that Brandt was looking for to find Ethan.

A young gentleman came up beside Hunley, and handed him a white portable phone. "William Brandt, sir," he said. "He says it's urgent."

Hunley looked up at his employee, and ripped off his glasses. He placed his tablet down on the seat and leaned forward to whisper into the portable phone. "I had a feeling you would come to your senses, Brandt," he said.

Inside a red phone booth, in London, Brandt glanced out the window nervously, with his hand in his pocket. The rain stuck to the glass window around Brandt, making him feel like a fish in a fish bowl. He tightened his jaw, listening to Hunley's voice on the other end of the receiver.

"Look, I'm only calling you because I have no other choice," he said, turning back to the phone. "I'm trying to prevent a catastrophe," he said, turning behind his shoulder.

" _I can understand that,"_ Hunley said. " _Where are you?"_

Brandt sighed, and winced within a blink before he replied, "London."

Inside the plane, Hunley turned back to his employee who waited patiently beside him for instructions. "Reroute us to London, now. Uh, where in London?" he asked, glancing at his watch.

" _I'll tell you when you land, not before,"_ Brandt said.

"I'm not interested in playing games, Brandt," Hunley said.

"And I'm not interested in seeing my friends get killed, either," Brandt said firmly, holding his phone tight against his ear. "So if I'm going to betray them, we're going to do this on my terms, and in _my_ terms only, do you understand? Keep your phone on, instructions will follow."

Brandt hung up the phone, and pushed the door open, glancing around his surroundings in the busy bustling city of London. He placed his hands within his pockets and felt rigid the whole way back to the safe house.

~*MI*~

"We should've been gone by now," Luther said, glancing at his work on his tablet.

"Yeah," Brandt said, walking by him. "Where's Carolyn?" he asked.

"Taking a shower," Luther replied. "That girl is something else."

Brandt smiled thinly. "Yeah," he said.

Luther turned to Brandt, curiously, wondering if he was okay because ever since the man got back he'd been pacing back and forth, like he felt guilty of something.

"You okay?" Luther asked as Brandt picked up his bag, and Carolyn's off the ground, and turned around from the window to face Luther and Ethan sitting at the makeshift desk.

"We're supposed to take the Prime Minister of Great Britain tonight," Brandt said. "So…" he closed his mouth tight and sighed before he started walking. He was going to hand Carolyn her clothes so she didn't come out freezing cold from her hot and warm shower.

"Brandt," Ethan said, stopping him in his trek.

Brandt looked up at his friend.

"I _can't_ see another way," Ethan said.

Brandt looked up from the ground and shook his head. "Neither can I," he said. "But we do what we have to do for our friends…right?" he asked.

Ethan winced at that and slightly nodded at Brandt's words. Luther frowned and waited to hear what might be the fight of a century between two lovers scorned.

~*MI*~

Carolyn was surprised to have found a shower inside Ethan's safe house, but she was forever grateful. She wanted to get rid of Lane's touches and smells of old tobacco and peppermint off of her as quickly as she could. She would never take showers for granted _ever_. She sighed with all the content feels in her body and soul she had left after she'd scrubbed and scrubbed, and turned the hot water off that was beginning to blend into cold water.

She pushed the curtains back, and grabbed her towel so she could dry herself off. As she wrapped her towel around her body to keep covered, she stepped out of the tub carefully, and onto the broken tile beneath her feet and walked over to the small sink with a mirror that had fog and condensation covering her reflection. With the palm of her hand, she brushed it off and looked at herself in the mirror. Lane had once called her beautiful, or at least that she had some of it because Gina was jealous of her. She tried to block it out, but that moment where he made an incision with his fingernail by accident so he claimed, came back to haunt her.

Right now, her facial expression appeared as if she was in a funeral, and she might as well be because Lane had duped them all.

" _She set us up!"_ Brandt's chilling words left a mark in her soul and she couldn't help but wonder if he was right. Sure, she was with Ethan, wholeheartedly that taking the Prime Minister was the _only_ way to get Benji back, but if Carolyn was thinking logically, in which she hadn't as of late, it was too far. Brandt was the only one who could really pull her out of her crazy thoughts and bring her back down to Earth. .

She let out a sigh, and gripped onto the sides of the sink within her hands to steady her shaking arms. She looked down in the sink's bowl that was plain and porcelain, a lot cleaner than Dubai's safe house. She looked up and frowned at the new incision line just below her lip and just above her chin. It was now a scar. A new scar. She had a few of them already from the Kremlin bombings that were still trying to heal.

Another sigh left her lips, as she looked at the one cut on her bottom lip that may just have been her saving grace. She shook her head at the vivid memory of Gina and Brandt kissing in Morocco. Her heart was still sore, beating at a slower pace, but tender, and raw. It was taking all of her energy to resist crying. She didn't think she had any more tears left because every time they moved out, she cried herself to sleep. She'd never felt more helpless. Her only hope in Vienna was Ilsa Faust, and now she wasn't so sure they could rely on her. Then again, Ilsa _did_ trade her and Gina like Carolyn had hoped would happen, but unfortunately it was at the cost of something greater. Carolyn had no idea Benji was going to get kidnapped; except for the fact Lane did say he was going to have a friend join her. She frowned. _Join_ her had been the key word because she never accounted for Ilsa to actually go with the plan. She frowned. Why was everything so confusing? And why did Gina have to kiss Brandt? Why did Brandt have to kiss her back? Oh, right, Carolyn thought regrettably, because he probably just wanted to make sure that it was the real Carolyn and not the fake Carolyn. She smacked the side of the sink in anger as it had been boiling for some time. She tried to hold it down to the best of her abilities, but it was so hard. It was so hard to let it all go, but she had to for the sake of Benji's life. She couldn't let Gina win. She couldn't let Gina get underneath her skin. Carolyn drew in a deep breath and let it out. Brandt was able to figure out who Gina really was, so that was a good sign. He figured it out first hand. Carolyn couldn't loose her mind, not now. Then why did her heart still hurt if she was okay with the fact that Brandt was just doing his job? Why did it hurt so bad in her heart and soul?

There was a sudden knock at the door and Carolyn's body tensed. "It's just me," Brandt said. "I just, uh, brought you a change of clothes."

Carolyn bit her bottom lip as the silence settled in between them. She didn't know what to say to him. She wanted to see him and so desperately hug him, but she didn't know how. It felt like she was back to square one again. She was never really good with relationships and mending things back together. Probably why she's been single for so long. She thought grimly, and when she thought she ruined everything with Brandt, and then Charlie she just felt like her life was over.

"You know I had to find out if she was really you," Brandt said. His voice cut through the air like a knife, desperate to keep the conversation going between them, as neither of them liked the unnerving silence to begin with. "You _know_ that," he clenched the bag's strap in his fingers tight and leaned his forehead against the door behind the bathroom.

Carolyn was listening to his words and silent breathing, and thought she could hear his quickened heartbeat as she stood there wrapped in her damp towel that covered from her neck to her knees. Her hair was draped across the curved bone of her neck.

"Please," he tried again, voice thick with straining tenderness. "Talk to me, Carolyn. It meant _nothing_. It didn't mean a damn thing because I'm crazy about you, not like in the literal psycho sense of course," he stammered, which made her smile slightly. "But I missed you. And I still miss you. I'll miss you for as long as I stay out this door, holding on to a set of nice warm clothes. It's raining right now…alright," he let out a casual sigh. "I'll just wait and wait and we'll let Benji's life hang in the balance…"

Carolyn winced and walked over to open the door, letting him inside. She pulled him in and pulled him closer inside the bathroom. "We don't have forever," she said in a rushed whisper. "We can't just let Benji hang in the balance like that when we're trying to mend our relationship together!" she said. "That's not fair," she said punching his shoulder lightly.

Brandt let out a low chuckle and smirked at her, "Thought that'd make you come to your senses that I know you still have."

She chewed her bottom lip worriedly when his face became serious. "What?" she asked.

"It's just…I love you…I love you with all my heart. I never knew it until you were taken away from me," he said. "It left a hole in my heart and I would've searched the entire globe just to bring you back. You know I could, I mean I do have some pretty sweet resources," Brandt said with slight humor in his voice.

It made Carolyn smile even more. She sighed finally when the humor died in the room and she looked at him, tilting her head to the side. "You know what I think?" she asked.

He raised his eyebrows. "What do you think?" he asked.

"I think we need to come up with a better way to tell if it's one of us," she said, twisting her lips to the side.

"The pea coat only works if it's in a colder climate!" Brandt defended his ideas.

"It _still_ helped Ethan," Carolyn pointed out. "Besides, you'd get jealous if I kissed Ethan."

"Ha," Brandt scoffed, shaking his head.

Carolyn arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him quite amused. "Benji said you were jealous of Blair! And relieved to find out he was part of the Syndicate," she said poking his chest lightly with her index finger.

He winced. "I just…had to know. The thought of you with anyone else…is…entirely intoxicating," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him. She placed her hands over his chest and looked up at him, listening to his sincere words out of his lips. "It's…new to me, give me a break."

Carolyn smiled and sighed, "I don't know. You still kissed Gina. Gina's still unaccounted for…and we still have to get Benji back."

Brandt ran his finger along her incision line on her cheek bone. She winced. He sighed, planting a kiss on top of her head. "I'm sorry, I'll kill him…that bastard-"

"Brandt," she shushed him. "It's just a scratch," she said, trying to calm him down.

He sighed. "We're not good are we?" he asked suddenly with a frown on his face.

Carolyn looked at him sadly, all joking aside and felt the pain twist her heartstrings. "I don't know," she said honestly.

He reluctantly let go of her and she steadied herself back onto her feet. She grabbed the bag from his ankles and placed it upon the sink. The bag had a C name on the edge of it and she grabbed out a pair of slacks, a black long sleeve buttoned down blouse, and her white pea coat that was hidden underneath a blow dryer. "I want us to, but until we fix this mess ahead of us…let's just…fix it okay? Promise me, we'll fix it?" she said, swallowing hard. "Ethan's not crazy," she said. "He knows what he's doing."

"Gambling with people's lives is _not_ knowing what they're doing, Carolyn. They're far from normality!" Brandt said, unable to help but rise his voice a notch that made her glare at him.

"You don't know Lane like I do," she said. "He'll stop at nothing to tear us all apart. What if it was you, Brandt? What if you were the target and Lane made you his pawn?" she asked. "What would you do?"

Brandt sighed, listening to her questions that hung in the air and ran a hand over his face. He couldn't stop the tension building in between them, and in all honesty… he couldn't find another way. So he had to make a choice. He had no other choice to call Hunley, and finish this...even if it meant...he winced at the awful thought in his head that swelled around him.

"Well," he said slowly. "We do what we have to do for our friends…right, Carolyn?" he asked.

She looked at him with narrowed eyes and stepped away from him. Brandt swallowed hard, wincing as he wondered how far this relationship was backed up. He wanted to move on, to move forward, and within his eyes, he could see that she wanted to too, but she was holding back. Didn't she know that he loved her? Shouldn't that be enough? He sighed. Maybe it was too soon to try to mend their relationship. Maybe she was right. Maybe they needed to focus on the mission first. He nodded silently and took his own bag out of the bathroom and left.

"Including girlfriends," she muttered as he left the room at the thick silence that seemed to only grow thicker between them.

"Well, that's the quietest fight _I've_ ever heard," Luther said to Ethan from across the table.

Ethan smirked, watching Brandt walk out of the room so Carolyn could change into her clothes. "Well, she's a quiet person."

"On most days," Brandt muttered with a sigh, as he walked by them.


	26. Chapter 25: The Prime Minister

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy my lovely readers!**

 **Chapter 25: The Prime Minister**

Darkness surrounded Benji until his black hood was removed, giving him some relief. He blinked, trying to focus with his current surroundings. He looked up at the tall man before him who had taken his hood off of his face. He noticed the strange silver ring that covered his ring finger.

He looked from his cold eyes to the woman leaning against the wall, dressed in skinny jeans, black boots, a dark navy blue top and wore a black leather jacket to match. The curls around her were voluminous and filled with browns and light golden colors that made her hair look like a caramel mocha swirl. She had dark makeup on too, and in her hand was a red wine glass. She relaxed her foot against the wall, and crossed her arms over her chest, drinking her Merlot that was filled to the top, staining her lips. Regina Czarr. She was working with Lane. That he knew. And here she was, boasting with eagerness, boasting with casualness that she was here, not tied up to a chair in black plastic wires like he was.

"Your friend Carolyn sat in that _same_ spot," Gina said in a taunting tone of voice that made Benji crinkle his nose in disgust. "Think about it. Had we not been generous and made this lovely plan, _she_ could be in tiny pieces across the Thames River by midnight tonight. So," she said, pausing slightly to take a sip of her wine. She smiled. "Think of it this way, you're saving a friend."

Benji twisted his lips into a frown. Carolyn probably would be here, but then again from what he's learned about Lane, he probably would have used any one of Ethan's close friends against him just to push his agenda even further. He wouldn't wish this on anyone.

Benji looked from Gina to the man that was beside him, dressed in a black suit. He had a black beard around his face that he'd recognized from the profile pictures.

Benji tried to yank his wrists out of his tight wires biting into his skin, nearly jumping out of his chair but he couldn't. The Bone Doctor placed the hood over by a table, where Gina set her drink down.

"Gina, be nice," Lane said, catching Benji's attention at Lane who had been there the whole time, standing just a few inches away from Gina. "He's our guest." Lane said, coming closer to Benji.

Benji gulped, and tried not to freak out, but he couldn't help it. The silence in the room grew thicker with each ticking moment around him as Lane studied Benji with the utmost scrutiny that made Benji nervous. He looked into his eyes through Lane's black rimmed specs around his eyes. Benji cringed in his seat and tried to move away to the best of his abilities as Lane walked closer and closer in unnerving silence till he stopped, and took a deep breath. Lane let it out and leaned forward. Benji gulped, breaking the heavy silence in the room.

"Get him ready please," Lane said.

Benji widened his eyes and looked at him and then the Bone Doctor, and his henchman who both started to get Benji ready for the night ahead of him.

Lane walked over to Gina and whispered tenderly in her ear. She glanced over her shoulder, looking at Benji with her eyes glistening as Lane told her her instructions of what must happen tonight.

~*MI*~

Later in the evening, the auction house bustled with respective members of many people, as they climbed out of their cars, and walked the lit up cobblestones at night. It was a London Charity event held in one of the exquisite old buildings in London that looked like a palace.

Policemen outlined the perimeter of the palace-like structure while people continued to walk inside, mostly couples of the rich nature as they walked inside.

There were many different cars all lined up parked outside the building that created a clearing that lead to the front of the building.

A black car pulled up to the side of the parking lot, and Agent Hunley climbed out of the car along with his college.

Hunley shared a small look with his colleague who straightened his black suit and looked at the man ahead of him, known as Agent William Brandt. And beside him was a woman they've been looking for for a long time, Carolyn Mason, who looked exquisitely beautiful, dressed in a black jumpsuit underneath her white pea coat to keep her warm from the cool London air. Her hair was up in curls twisted within a silver clip to reveal her diamond earrings that dangled against her light skin tone and sparkled underneath the moonlight. Underneath the flared pants of her jumpsuit, she wore a set of black heels that gave her just enough oomph to feel tall and confident.

Hunley looked Carolyn up and down, and she looked at him in his ocean blue eyes, not afraid. He looked over at Brandt and they started walking forward, with Carolyn right beside Brandt.

"You were right to call me, Brandt," Hunley said. "Where is Hunt?"

"He's on his way; we don't have much time," Brandt replied.

"What does he intend to do?" Hunley asked, as they headed toward the auction house.

"What matters is, is that he is alive," Brandt continued, turning to face him as they stopped in the middle of the cobblestone streets that lead up to the stairs of the building. "Also, duly note, I found you Carolyn Mason, alive. And I need your reassurance that they're going to stay that way."

She turned her head to face Brandt, feeling her heart flip flop, as the three of them stood in a triangle. What? She was about to open her mouth to stay something until a cop's light shined in her eyes and the sound of blaring cop horn made her turn to face the Prime Minister's arrival. Two cop motorcycles were in the lead, followed by the Prime Minister's black SUV, with the arrival of two more cars, and last but not least two more cop protection details. One would think it was the President of the United States, but being a Prime Minister here in London was also a big deal, and Carolyn didn't want anything to happen to any official.

Hunley spun around to watch the Prime Minister get out of his car with the open door thanks to his staff members.

Carolyn didn't expect him to be handsome. He waited for his wife as she slid out of the car and held onto her husband's hand. He wrapped a protective hand around her waist. Carolyn was in slight awe, unable to help but think she was beautiful as anything, making Carolyn feel slightly underdressed, but she wasn't here for fun like she was. She was here to save Benji's life, which meant taking down the Prime Minister. She licked her lips and shared a small but intimate look with Brandt.

"Have you informed the British Government that Hunt has targeted Prime Minister?" Hunley asked in a hushed and outrageous tone of voice.

"I will help you capture him, _alive_ , that is the deal," Brandt said.

Hunley looked at Carolyn who just smiled at him. He didn't miss the small incision cut just above her chin that looked like a fingernail had ripped some of her skin. He would have thought perhaps she'd cover it up with makeup but here she was tonight, standing before him, strong and not in the least bit scared, or at least, she didn't show it. "This is your idea of Intel?" he asked her.

"Take it or leave it," she said and then cleared her throat when he gave her a look. "Sir."

He was about to respond to her until he caught sight of Chief Attlee across the other side of the parking lot. Attlee walked over toward the front of the building where he headed toward the stairs. Hunley turned to face Brandt. "You picked up some terrible habits from your friend Brandt; the worst in being you think you can control the outcome," he glared down at Brandt who didn't back down at Hunley's stares. Hunley looked over at his colleague. "Stay with them," he informed.

The gentleman with the earpiece nodded, and folded his hands in front of him while he stepped closer to Carolyn and Brandt. Carolyn drew in a deep breath, and looked sideways at Brandt, wondering if he was okay. He seemed absolutely stoic right now, and that was making Carolyn nervous on the inside, especially when she noticed his shoulders' tension slump a bit.

Hunley walked over to Chief Attlee, and tried to gain his attention. "Chief Attlee, Chief Attlee," he said, catching up to him on the steps of the auction house.

"Chief Hunley, how delightful to see you here," Attlee said with a smile across his face. "Last we spoke; you were hunting rogue agents in Morocco."

"Chief Attlee, I have reason to believe that the Prime Minister's life is in danger," Hunley informed.

Attlee widened his eyes at the news out of Hunley's mouth, and looked at the charity event as the last remaining people piled inside. He turned to face Hunley. "I'm listening."

Brandt watched Hunley and Attlee discuss the dryer details of how Hunt has targeted the Prime Minister's life. Hunley turned to face Carolyn and Brandt and motioned a quick nod for his agents to bring them over and inside the auction building.


	27. Chapter 26: Desperate Times

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy my lovely readers!**

 **Chapter 26: Desperate Times**

"Any advance on twenty-two thousand? Going once? Going twice?" The announcer woman inquired as she looked around the charity event for another panel to rise in the air. "Sold to our generous total."

The Prime Minister's wife smiled, and clapped for the winning total, as her husband smiled, watching her smile and enjoying the auction.

"Sir, Chief Attlee says that MI:6 is here to see you, he says it's urgent," one of Prime Minister's agents said, as he leaned close into the Prime Minister's ear. The Prime Minster looked down in pure thought and twisted his lips before he turned to his wife. "Excuse me," he said and she nodded, watching him get up from his seat and walk to the back rooms, while she plastered a smile on her face and looked ahead, ready to see what other item would come out for the auction.

His two security guards directed the Prime Minister all the way back toward a dining room hall that had a red carpet on the floor, leading them to the back room and away from the guests by the auction charity event. He entered the dining hall to meet Chief Attlee who was guarding the room.

"What's this all about?" The Prime Minister asked.

"It's a matter of national security sir," Chief Attlee said, and pushed open the mahogany double doors that led them inside a beautiful room that looked almost either Edwardian or Victorian dating back to the 1700's in such warm colors of gold's, reds, and brown leather.

Inside the room, the Prime Minister noticed Director Hunley, with two people beside him, a handsome gentleman who stood next to him with such poise and articulate posture, and a young woman who stood on the opposite side of Director Hunley, holding the same confidence her colleague had. The woman looked short compared to Director Hunley and the young agent with beautiful brown curls that curled and cascaded around the small curve of her shoulders.

"Under no circumstances is anyone to enter," Attlee reported to the bodyguards.

"Yes, sir," they said and nodded at the same time. Attlee closed the door behind him and walked inside the secured room before him.

Inside the room, the Prime Minster took a seat in an old fashioned chair with a painting etched into the cushion as he settled in his chair. "Help me to understand," he began, glancing at the four people in this very room who were here to see him of some urgency. "Who is this man, and why is he after me?" he asked.

"I'm afraid, Prime Minster," Attlee began as he looked at Hunley. Carolyn and Brandt glanced over at Attlee and the Prime Minister. "Director Hunley and I share responsibility for this," Attlee said.

"Ethan Hunt was part of a disgraced intelligence agency, which has been since dissolved," Hunley explained, swallowing hard. Carolyn looked up at Hunley's words and listened, biting her tongue on the inside as she tried to keep her smart mouth shut.

"And he's gone rogue," Attlee said. "Unfortunately intent on dismantling an imaginary terror network."

"But new intelligence, suggests that he's been manipulated by one of your own former agents," Hunley explained.

"Ilsa Faust, Prime Minister, she disappeared two years ago," Attlee said.

"And if you don't mind my asking, what do I have to do with this phantom network?" the Prime Minister asked carefully.

"Uh, sir this is Carolyn Mason, my consultant, and William Brandt, a former colleague of Hunt's," Hunley said, pointing to Brandt, who blinked and Carolyn, who tore her eyes away from the carpet and looked up at the Prime Minister. "They came forward with first hand knowledge with the plot against you."

"Sir, Hunt is in possession of a virtual red box that can only be open by you," Brandt explained. "He believes that it is the key to bring down the Syndicate."

"The Syndicate, you say," the Prime Minister said, glancing at Brandt, Hunley, and Carolyn before he twisted his wedding ring finger on his hand.

"Yes, sir," Hunley nodded. "That's what he calls it."

The Prime Minster darted his brown eyes from Hunley to face Attlee, who faced him. "Attlee, he couldn't be possibly talking about _that_ Syndicate because you assured me that _that_ Syndicate was merely an exercise."

"And it was, Prime Minister!" Attlee said, not missing Hunley's shocked expression on his face. "I can assure you."

"And yet here we have the Central Intelligence Agency indicating otherwise," the Prime Minister said, pointing a casual finger over to Hunley.

"I don't understand," Hunley said with a shake of his head. He turned to Attlee. "So there actually _is_ a Syndicate?"

"Prime Minister, you're life is in danger," Attlee began jumping right into protecting the Prime Minister, dodging Hunley's question as he demonstrated with his hands animatedly. "I think our first priority is to move you to a secure location…"

"Sir, does the name Solomon Lane, ring a bell?" Brandt asked, cutting into the conversation.

"Yes," The Prime Minister said, slowly.

"What about Regina Czarr?" Carolyn said, speaking up for the first time that night.

The Prime Minister looked over at her and he nodded. "Unfortunately it does."

"So, there actually _is_ a Syndicate?" Hunley turned to Attlee in a shocked whisper.

Attlee gulped and turned to face Hunley.

"It was the hypothetical brainchild of Chief Attlee," the Prime Minister began.

Carolyn widened her eyes at the news and couldn't believe it herself that an agent, a supposedly _good_ agent had done such a thing. She felt Brandt's eyes on her and she looked down at the ground, feeling her diamond earrings dangle against her skin.

"Recruit former agents from other nations, supply them with a new identity, and use them to surgically remove our enemies, both at home and abroad," the Prime Minister explained. Hunley looked from Attlee to Brandt and Carolyn who both pursed their lips together, listening to the Prime Minister speak. A terrible thought just occurred to Carolyn, and all she wanted to right then was cry in a ball, and cry herself to sleep, but she had to be brave here, she had to be brave for Benji. She looked over at Brandt, who shared a knowing look with her and she frowned.

"It's operating budget was to be located offshore in a virtual red box, which I alone would control. It would've made me judge, jury, and executioner with zero accountability. I rejected the proposal, unequivocally. Furthermore, I was given _every_ assurance it never past the planning stage," the Prime Minister's voice raised with each syllable spewing out of his mouth as he explained what happened and what went wrong.

"Prime Minister," Attlee said. "There _is_ no Syndicate. This young lady, and these men have been duped by Agent Faust…"

"Attlee?" the Prime Minister said, gaining Attlee's full attention. He gripped tightly on his armchair. "Save it for the public inquiry!" he said and pushed himself up off of his chair.

Hunley stopped him in his trek, placing a hand over his chest. The Prime Minister glared at Hunley. Carolyn's lips twisted ajar in shock as she watched the Prime Minister try to leave. "Sir, I urge you not to leave this room."

"Excuse me," the Prime Minister said in a biting growl.

"Please," Hunley said, holding his wrist, to keep him from going back out there.

"Hunt is uniquely trained and highly motivated. He is a specialist without equal. Immune to any counter measures, there is no secret he cannot extract, no security he cannot breach, no person he cannot become. He has most likely anticipated this very conversation and is waiting to strike in whatever direction we move," Hunley said in a warned hush tone of voice. "Sir, Hunt is the living manifestation of density, and he has made _you_ his mission."

"Prime Minister?" Attlee said, breaking the Prime Minister and Director Hunley apart as they stood next to each other. They looked at the gun in Attlee's hand and before he could say anything, a red dart pierced his right chest. Hunley was about to step forward until Attlee pointed the gun toward him, daring to move closer toward him.

The Prime Minister started to fall backwards in a slow like motion, until Hunley caught him and settled him back into his chair. Hunley looked over at him with concerned written in his eyes, as Attlee lowered his weapon. He pulled off the Attlee mask revealing his real identity to be Ethan Hunt.

"Hunt," Hunley said as though he'd seen a ghost.

Ethan took off the voice-mask off his neck, and handed the items to Carolyn as he walked by her. She placed the voice-mask tape within her pea coat's pocket as Ethan continued to train his gun on Hunley so he wouldn't move.

"Sir, please step away from the Prime Minister," Ethan ordered Director Hunley to step away. Hunley walked across the room with his hands in the air, still shocked that Hunt had been in this room the whole time. Ethan smirked at Brandt, who nodded with a small smile on his face as he walked over to the Prime Minister.

"Just relax sir, everything is going to be alright," Brandt said as calm as can be. He took out the dart and placed it within his jacket pocket.

"Attlee _shot_ me," the Prime Minister said in a drowsy and tired voice, like he'd been drugged. Brandt placed his fingers gently against the Prime Minister's pulse, checking it, and looked at Ethan for the hand scanner of which Ethan tossed him in the air.

"Yes he did, sir," Brandt said as he caught the hand scanner. Ethan had tossed him another retinal scanner from his jacket pocket. Brandt leant forward to place the retinal scanner above the Prime Minister's right eye.

"Hunt, I hope you realize that you've set back U.S. and U.K. relations back to the American Revolution," Hunley warned.

"Desperate times, desperate measures, sir," Ethan said, placing his phone on his ear, while keeping his stun-gun trained on Hunley.

"I'm not so sure I agree with you, sir," Carolyn said, as Hunley looked from what Brandt was doing to the Prime Minister to her. "I mean let's be fair, it would be _impossible_ to turn back time to the American Revolution, not with how far we've come as two countries are already moving the world forward to a brighter and better future. People are smarter now and wouldn't _dare_ fight against each other, let alone a loved one."

Hunley's eyes slanted sideways at her and when he landed on her, she smiled at him.

Back in the safe house, Luther heard his phone ring beside him, just what he'd been waiting for as he stared at his lap top. He picked it up and answered the phone, placing it to his ear. "I'm here," he said.

" _Ready to receive?_ " Ethan asked.

"Ready," Luther said.

Just outside the building, the real Chief Attlee parked his car to the curb of the building and met up with one of the agent outside. "The Prime Minister's office has asked me to meet him here."

"This way sir," the agent said and showed Attlee a way inside the building.

Back inside the room, Brandt was scanning the Prime Minister's retinal scanner code. "Scanning," he said, placing the eyehole scanner against the Prime Minister's eye. The red lights scanned the Prime Minister's entire eyeball red light lines scanning back and forth.

Luther prepared to receive the information thanks to Brandt's retinal scanner as he typed it up onto his lap top inside the safe house.

"Retinal scan confirmed," Luther informed Ethan on the phone back inside the room. Ethan looked over at Brandt and nodded for him to get the next unlock key, his finger prints.

The Prime Minister moved slightly in his drugged-like state, and laid his head back down on the backrest of the chair. "Let's take a look at your hand, sir," Brandt said in a gentle whisper as he settled down on his knee. He placed the Prime Minister's hand over the hand scanner; the same one Carolyn noticed had a wedding ring finger on it.

The red lights underneath the hand scanner scanned his finger prints as Brandt gently held it on there so his hand didn't slide off. "You've got a very warm hand," the Prime Minister said, making Brandt look up at both Ethan and Carolyn. Ethan shrugged and Carolyn couldn't help but smile.

Brandt gave her a questionable look.

"What?" She shrugged innocently. "It's true," she whispered.

Hunley watched the exchange with amused eyes as the scene unfolded before him.

" _Biometric confirmed,"_ Luther said on the other end of Ethan's line. " _The prompt is Kipling."_

"The prompt is Kipling," Ethan said, tossing Brandt the phone who caught in his hands.

"Sir, I'm gonna need a pass phrase, the prompt is Kipling," Brandt said, as Ethan looked at his watch. Carolyn looked over at Ethan worriedly, wondering how much time they had left to get to Benji.

"Yes of course," The Prime Minister said in a drowsy voice. His lips spoke into the phone that Brandt held out for him. "If you can keep your head about you, loosing theirs," the Prime Minister said. "If you can trust yourself, when an old man doubts you…"

Back in the safe house and on Luther's laptop, the phrase recorded back onto his screen and locked the final key into opening the red box, showing him lists of numbers of money in entrusted banks and corporations.

Brandt leaned up from the Prime Minister, and placed the phone on his ear. "You got it?" he asked Luther.

"I _got it_ ," Luther said excitedly. " _Oh man, do I got it._ "

Brandt smirked and clicked off the phone, tossing it back to Ethan. Ethan waved his stun-gun at Hunley over to stand beside the sleepy Prime Minister, while Brandt placed his items back into his pockets. He walked over to Ethan, while passing Carolyn who joined Hunley's side.

Outside the closed door, Attlee walked over to face the two agents that were guarding the door respectively.

"I'm here to see the Prime Minister," Attlee said.

"We were told not to let anyone in," the agent said.

"By whom?" Attlee asked, glancing at him. They glanced at each other and looked at him.

"By _you_ sir," he said with a small smile on his face.

Attlee pushed through the double doors, leading him inside to see Hunley standing beside the sleepy Prime Minister. He looked from Hunley to Carolyn Mason to the Prime Minister again. "Hunley! What is this..? Security?"

His security agents walked inside the double doors and suddenly felt stopped as two red darts pierced their backs, falling face first to the floor. Carolyn arched an eyebrow as she watched them fall, cringing slightly as they did so.

"Chief Attlee," Ethan said, and Attlee turned around to face his agent's attackers as Brandt and Hunt. "Kind of you to accept our invitation," he said, shooting a red dart at his chest. Attlee grunted at the impact, shocked that he was trapped in this mess before him.

Ethan and Brandt walked forward to make sure that Attlee falls down on his back. Hunley looked at Carolyn who nodded and together they joined Ethan and Brandt to the other side and circle Attlee as he looked at all four of them.

"Do you know who I am?" Attlee asked.

"We know you created the Syndicate," Ethan said, kneeling down toward Attlee's body. Carolyn stood behind Ethan and next to Brandt, staring down at Attlee. "But Lane and Czarr went rogue and turned it against you, didn't they? You've been desperately trying to cover it up ever since," Ethan said. "That's why you erased the disc when she brought it to you."

"That's true," Attlee said.

Ethan looked up at Hunley for his approval. Hunley glanced at Carolyn and she nodded. He looked back down at Attlee.

"Now, Director Hunley has some questions for you regarding Ilsa Faust, namely how you _framed_ her."

"That's also true," Attlee said as the truth serum kicked in his system.

Ethan stood up from Attlee once he was satisfied and pulled a syringe from his pocket. He handed it to Hunley. "Here's the antidote," Ethan said.

"When the Prime Minister found out about the Syndicate, Attlee attacked him," Brandt explained.

"Yes, that's _true_ ," The Prime Minister said.

"And then you and Miss Mason saved him," Brandt said.

Carolyn blinked. What? That wasn't part of the plan. She frowned slightly at his words, searching for answers within his blue eyes that seemed to hold pride and admiration for her. He gently nodded as if he understood what she was questioning. She smiled slightly.

"Did they?" the Prime Minister asked. Hunley and Carolyn looked back over their shoulders and looked at his surprised face. "I'm very grateful."

Hunley looked back and was met with the stun-gun from Ethan's hand. Hunley looked from Brandt to Ethan to Carolyn as she looked into Brandt's eyes, feeling her heart tighten against her chest.

"Sir," Ethan said. Hunley glanced at Ethan and nodded, taking the stun-gun from Ethan's hand and the two turned around to walk out the doors. Ethan walked out first but Carolyn grabbed Brandt's arm before he could leave her to save Benji.

"Brandt," she said.

"I believe in you," he whispered and she pulled him in for a much needed desperate kiss, feeling his lips melt desperately into hers as he tasted like heaven in her arms until she broke apart and disentangled herself from him.

"Go," she said, shoving him out the door. She sighed and turned around to face Hunley who arched an eyebrow at her.

"Very close apparently," he said in amusing tone of voice. Carolyn rolled her eyes, and wished her cheeks could stop burning as they got to work, cleaning up the mess inside.

Meanwhile inside Lane's apartment, he picked up his phone and listened to what Ethan had to say. "You are cutting it very close, Ethan," Lane said.

Outside the building, Ethan and Brandt walked together in a brisk pace as fast as they could to their car.

"I have what I want, where do I go?" Ethan asked.

Inside the room of which Hunley and Carolyn helped Attlee and the Prime Minister to their respective chairs. Carolyn placed the palm of her hand against the Prime Minister's neck, while she held the antidote in her hands. Hunley was occupied with watching Attlee when her phone suddenly rang within her ears. She frowned and stepped away from the Prime Minister who mumbled something about cool fingers and she shook her head. She walked away and into a corner of the room, beside a golden table.

"What?" she asked.

" _Meet me by the Thames River_ ," Gina said. " _Or I will find away to kill your precious Agent William Brandt. Come alone._ "

Carolyn gulped at the sound of her dial tone and looked up at Hunley who looked at her with a frown. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"No…" she said, feeling her heart race against her chest. "I just…need some air."

"You're supposed to stay here," Hunley said. "I gave Brandt and Hunt their word."

"I know," she said. "I'll be fine, just for a moment."

Hunley looked at her distraught face, realizing that maybe she did need some air and let out a sigh. "Fine," he said, taking the antidote from her hand. "But an agent will be right outside."

She winced and nodded. "Alright, thank you," she said and lifted a strand of her hair nervously as she stepped out of the room, and closed it behind her.


	28. Chapter 27: Desperate Measures

**A/n: Here's a new update! So glad you like it! Thank you all for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing! I really appreciate it, especially to those who have read Quest for a Holiday, thank you as well. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun, and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Chapter 27: Desperate Measures**

Luther pulled out his drill tool and turned it on, grinning at the spinning blade. He was just about to get to work on the next part of the plan, until he heard screeching tires coming from Ethan's car as the car came barreling in the garage, and parked to a speedy halt. Ethan and Brandt piled out of the car, and raced over to meet with Luther beside the makeshift desk where his laptop and tools were.

"Ethan wait," Luther said in a warning tone of voice with his hands held to stop Ethan from walking any further to the laptop.

"If I'm not there in fifteen minutes, he'll kill Benji," Ethan said, glancing at Luther.

"The mission is to bring down the Syndicate," Luther reminded Ethan. "If Lane and Czarr get their hands on that money we're unleashing a terrorist superpower."

Ethan shook his head. "They'll never take me alive, I'll make sure of it," Ethan promised.

Brandt cleared his throat, and leaned his arms against the table. He looked at Ethan with concern in his eyes. "What happens Ethan?" Ethan and Luther looked at Brandt. "If you can't make it back?"

"If Carolyn can make it back," Ethan said, eyeing him carefully. " _I'll_ make it back."

Brandt flicked his eyes over to Luther and back at Ethan.

"Just be ready," Ethan said.

Brandt let out a small sigh, and nodded. He believed in Carolyn. She'd made it this far. She could return to him in one piece.

Luther opened the laptop back up, while Brandt pulled up a sheet of glass.

Ethan looked at the screen before him and pressed the play button so that the video of Chief Attlee could play for him.

"Greetings, Prime Minister, if you are viewing this message, it means you have chosen to activate the Syndicate. This disc gives you access to two point four billion pounds, sterling, and untraceable currency," he said as Ethan scanned through the highlighted numbers on the screen. "That would allow the Syndicate to operate undetected for decades. Instructions to access are as follows…," Ethan listened, and read the numbers in his head. He pulled out the disc, and took one of Luther's drill tools. He started drilling it.

~*MI*~

The salty smells of the river infiltrated Carolyn's nose as she walked along the tower bridge that stretched from one side to the other. Enough civilians were out later than what Carolyn would have liked for what was really going on right now. And she didn't mean to do it, but she used her truth-gun serum to get away from the agent that was standing outside the auction house to get away. She was just waiting for Gina's arrival, and waiting for Ethan to save Benji's life all the while she thought about her life had been mostly a lie.

She just couldn't believe that all this time, her friend Gina from her gymnastics competition, had been apart of the Syndicate. It made perfect sense. She just couldn't figure out how, or why. Gina sent her out to Vienna for the first time to meet with Dimitri so that she could die and get out of the way. That much was perfectly clear.

Carolyn thought tentatively as she leaned her arms against the bridge's railing and looked out into the waters below where the lights of The Tower Bridge glistened over the river below her.

Carolyn felt that ill part of her heart twist into worry and could only hope and pray that Ethan and Benji were going to make this out alive.

Gina had been put into place to surgically remove Carolyn because Carolyn had ties to the IMF, because Carolyn had fallen romantically in love with Agent Brandt. Of all people, and all agencies…she had thought she was done with the spy world. She thought it died with Charlie Blair, but evidentially it came and bit her right back in the ass. When Hunley told her that Blair was dead, she was sad and depressed and felt guilty for even being somewhat relieved because all that pressure of worrying if he was okay had been lifted off her shoulders and she could finally think freely for herself, but she was never happy again. When she took the cocktail waitressing job in Seattle, nothing was ever the same again in her life. She was still sad and she couldn't get rid of the burning hole that was threatening to tear her heart away. She finally decided that after she snapped in her defense from that rich asshole who tried to hit on her, and take advantage of her, she finally decided to take therapy by request of her boss. It did help a little bit, and she and her therapist decided it would be a good idea for her to get out and get into the real world. Moscow was a place she'd always wanted to see on her bucket list, so she was happy to agree to go.

She never in a million years thought she would end up with a spy like Ethan Hunt, stuck with the IMF because the Russian officer thought they were working together to destroy Russia. That seemed so funny to her because that wasn't her at all. She wasn't a crazy psycho like the police officer had made her out to be. She was actually quite nice and generally a nice person or at least she used to be. She was still nice, but she wasn't truly happy, not until she met the delectable William Brandt, who changed her life, and made her life worth living again, despite being _almost_ blown to pieces in the Kremlin. She hadn't made the best choices in life, but sticking with Ethan Hunt had been one of the best ones she made. She fell hard for Brandt, and she was ecstatic that he loved her back. Unfortunately the IMF worked much differently than the CIA and had very different protocol set ideals to save the world, and she would be put in danger if she and Brandt ever stayed together, which left her very sad. She was back home in Seattle, and met her new manager, Gina, and was literally surprised it was Gina, the girl she met in her gymnastics competition. It was brief because they were on separate teams and going after the winning titles that was huge. Carolyn was happy to be friends with Gina. Carolyn had told her what she liked and what she didn't like. After hearing what Carolyn had to say about her love life, or rather lack of, Gina decided that Carolyn needed a good vacation where she could meet men her age and have a good time. So she sent her away to Vienna…only to get blown up by nerve gas.

Carolyn frowned at that. She never once thought that was going to happen to her. She never once thought Gina would be so cruel as to send her away to her death. Gina had to have known Dimitri who was apart of the Syndicate so they were working together with Lane, who was intent on making Ethan's life miserable, which meant trying to tear whatever resources Ethan had apart. So it didn't matter if Carolyn was part of the IMF or not, if she knew Ethan Hunt, or William Brandt, or Benji Dunn, and she did, they would get to her. That's what she realized. She could be far away from them, and still get trapped. It seemed like Gina had a personal vendetta against Carolyn anyway, so the fact that Gina was apart of the Syndicate…that was the icing on the cake because Gina had all the nifty resources that the IMF did.

"So, you came alone," Gina's voice cut through Carolyn's pensive thoughts.

Carolyn's shoulders tensed and she felt the wind cascade around her hair, her curls drifting in the wind as she stood on the bridge. "Yes, I did," Carolyn said, and turned around to face Gina. "The CIA may be smart, but the IMF is smarter."

Gina smiled. "Do you like an audience? I do. Although, I don't think you'd like one once you loose, just like old times," Gina's grip loosened from the hilt of her blade she'd been carrying underneath her leather jacket. It slid into the palm of her hand, showing Carolyn the sharp blade.

Carolyn looked at the gleaming silver blade as it glinted off the moonlight in the sky. She felt her face harden and sighed. "Gina-"

"Careful," Gina whispered sharply, cutting Carolyn off. "Don't want to finish what Lane started, tearing up that pretty face of yours. I just thought we could enjoy the view up here, and watch the fireworks created by your dear friend Benji."

"Stop it!" Carolyn cried desperately, hearing the strain in her voice.

Gina laughed.

"Stop, Gina! Or should I say Regina Czarr? You were on the Russian gymnastics team, after all," Carolyn said, eyeing her up and down.

Gina smiled and took a small bow forward. "I'm really proud of where I come from, Carolyn."

Carolyn frowned. "So am I," she said. "I don't see what that has to do with…"

"You took _everything_ from me," Gina hissed, tightening her grip on the hilt of her blade. "Do you know how hard I worked for it?"

"We all worked hard for it, Gina," Carolyn stressed. "That's what we do in life. We work hard for the things we want to achieve. It doesn't matter what nationality we are, just so long as we still have the passion to work hard for what we want in life."

"Well, I _wanted_ to win the winning titles of that championship! I wanted it!" she screamed, making Carolyn gulp, and glance around her, wondering if anyone was paying attention. A couple people looked at them as they passed by, but didn't say much. "And you took that away from me. You have any idea how hard it is to be me? To live in fear, to always watch your back because you think you're going to get snatched up and taken back to your country because you don't have a green card? They always paint America as this beautiful country," Gina said.

"It is," Carolyn said in a small whisper. "It can be," she said afterwards. "We're trying…we all make mistakes…but we can all learn from each other too. I love culture and I love traveling the world to learn about how other people live and where they come from. I'm so amazed-"

"Don't!" Gina snapped, cutting her off. She let out a dark laugh. "Naïve and _worthless_. Don't you _dare_ go spinning off different shit into my mouth. That winning title was supposed to get me into a good college and give me the freedom that I've always wanted. When I didn't win, I got a job as a waitress, and worked my way up into the world of manager. A couple of us went to a theatre show and had dinner. I was mesmerized by the very thought of acting, and being someone else, so I thought it would be cool to quit, and go to theatre school in London. I had looked around and asked. I was picking up the pieces in my life after loosing that title," she said.

Carolyn frowned. She was not going to take this. She was going to defend herself. It wasn't easy, training for those titles. Each girl went through the same thing. Their lives may be different, but they all worked toward the same goal, even if Carolyn never wanted it. She'd always felt guilty and always felt bad, but it wasn't her fault. She was forced into it. "I won because my mother pushed me to train every waking day of my life. I was _starving_ myself to win this thing for my mother. I didn't even want to win it for me. I was afraid that if I didn't win it for her, I'd be a big disappointment…I…." she said, breaking into quiet sobs at the memories of her and her mother training in the gym had flooded back to life. She sighed. "I wanted to do ballet more than gymnastics. I wanted to do a lot more than gymnastics. My mother broke her leg back in college, so she could never compete again, and used me as her personal mouthpiece to feel the joys of winning that title. I didn't want it, Gina. I tried to find you, so I could give it to you because I didn't think it was fair that I won….I couldn't find you. They said you left after that."

Gina nodded. "I did leave," she said. "I couldn't stand seeing you up on the platforms with the winning medal around your neck and roses in your arm, everyone cheering. I was…jealous, and hurt. So, I ran away. After I went to theatre school, I met my half brother Dimitri, and found out I had another family I didn't even know about, and discovered my true virtue in life. Acting. Meeting Lane during one of my theatre performances was the best luck a girl struggling through life could hope for. He placed me and my brother Dimitri in a good position for the Syndicate. It was just beginning to bloom, and we devised a plan. One of us would stay in the United States, while the other in Europe in case we found one of Lane's enemies afoot, a.k.a. Ethan Hunt. I was ecstatic to see Ethan and you showing up at my restaurant in Seattle to apply for a job. It made me smile even more when I found out you had dropped out of college, and told me how sad your life had gotten out of that world of wonder and beauty."

Carolyn frowned as she listened to Gina's words. Gina really had lost her mind She didn't think there was any saving Gina at this point Gina had let jealousy consumer her, even though Carolyn had wanted to do the decent thing to give away her scholarship to her in the first place. She didn't like to be judged for something like that. It wasn't fair. Everyone worked really hard to be where Gina and Carolyn were at those top competition events. Carolyn wondered if she should've just tried to break a leg of her own or forfeit, but she had no choice. Her mother, her coach, would have made her try anything at all costs. Carolyn was scared of her mother, and scared of disappointing her. In that thought and context, Carolyn realized that she was a coward, or at least she was back then. And she didn't mean to hurt someone like Gina.

"Gina," Carolyn said softly. "I'm so sorry…I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I'm really…truly sorry."

Gina pouted her lips and nodded at Carolyn's real attempt to apologize to Gina. "Awe….I am too, sweetheart. But it's too late for apologies now. I met Lane, and fell madly in love. I was _ecstatic_ when I saw you and Brandt kissing on that pier. I couldn't let you live your life. I wanted to make you understand how hard it was for me all those years ago."

"You know Lane kills people for a living, right?" Carolyn asked.

Gina smiled. "I know," she said with shining and sparkling eyes. "I've helped on occasion too."

Carolyn furrowed her brows and frowned, feeling her cheeks hurt with sadness. She hadn't meant for Gina to be like this. She didn't know. She didn't know Gina could be so vindictive as to let this grudge burn a hole in her heart enough to destroy a life. It hadn't been easy for Carolyn either. Everyone is different.

"Please, let me help you-" Carolyn began, but stopped when Gina shook her head.

"I don't need your help," Gina said with a bitter laugh. "I found my way out, and now I get to enjoy the moment of fireworks…with you, watching one of your best friend's die…in…about…oh…" she looked at the watch on her wrist. "Five minutes."

Carolyn tightened her lips and gulped. She took a brave step forward toward Gina, ready to take her out, but, Gina tisked with her tongue against the roof of her mouth and shook her head. "If you try anything, this blade kills the next civilian that walks by us."

Carolyn frowned.

~*MI*~

Ethan walked at a brisk pace as he headed over to the café. The Tower Bridge was right behind him. He stopped in the middle of the road, where people walked about at night, enjoying their night off. He looked across the sidewalk and saw Ilsa and Benji sitting at a table with a couple of wine glasses beside them. She looked over at him with a rueful look on her face. The wind curled her hair around her face as she looked at him. Ethan turned to face Lane's men as they hid out in plain sight from every corner he looked. Vinter and his two men were in the middle of the road, standing there in the midst of the late night strollers.

He walked over and walked over to Benji. Benji slowly turned his head and looked up at Ethan. He widened his eyes.

"This is the end, Mr. Hunt," Benji spoke with an emotionless tone of voice.

Ethan looked at Benji as he studied Benji's current position. He saw the earpiece attached to a clear cord that was hidden within his coat jacket. He also spotted the contact lens, the same one Sabina Monroe used, and Regina Czarr had when she manipulated Brandt and Benji. He was being watched. Ethan reached to pull Benji's jacket flap away from the bomb that was hidden underneath him, but Ilsa shook her head in warning.

"Careful," she whispered.

He lifted it open slowly and saw the countdown of the bomb strapped across Benji's stomach.

"Two pounds of syntax," Benji explained as Lane delivered the message through Benji. "Five hundred and thirty calicuble bearings. You're friend is sitting on a highly sensitive pressure trigger, so no sudden moves."

Ethan looked back at Ilsa who lifted a gun, hidden out from behind the table.

"You're final test," Ethan said in a whisper.

"When Lane and Czarr have what they want," Ilsa said. "I kill you and Benji. If not, everyone dies."

Ethan turned around, glancing at his surroundings. Everyone meaning everyone that was around him.

"No time to think, Ethan," Benji said suddenly. "Have a seat, please."

Benji swallowed hard and sighed, his shoulders slumping. Ethan looked at Benji and squeezed his shoulder gently, giving him reassurance. Benji nodded as Ethan sat down in the empty chair.

"Human nature," Benji began as Ethan sat across from Benji. "My weapon of choice. From the moment I killed the young lady in the record shop, and took Carolyn hostage, I knew you would stop at nothing to catch me. I also knew that Ilsa wouldn't have a choice. Whether she broke you that night or let you go," Benji said. Ilsa looked over at Ethan and frowned, listening to Lane's words out of Benji's mouth. "Whether you let her run in Morocco, whether she went to Attlee, or not…"

"You were certain that we'd end up right where we are, right now," Ethan said, coming to the conclusion. "Then again…so was I," Ethan said, looking up at Benji and into his eyes. "I know you Lane. Somewhere along the line you had a crisis of faith. Human life didn't matter anymore, or maybe it never really did. Either way, you killed too many innocent people without ever asking who was giving the orders, or why. You blamed the system for what you are, instead of yourself. You wanted revenge, but Rome wasn't destroyed in a day. You needed help. You found Regina Czarr who had the same resentment and like most people with common interests, hooked up, and the Syndicate was born. You needed money, a lot of it. And you'll stop at _nothing_ to get it," Ethan said as he leaned forward, crossing his arms along the table as he looked at the contact lens in Benji's eye. "That's how I know I'm going to put you in a box."

"Where's the disc?" Benji asked in a tightened angered voice.

Ilsa looked at the clock ticking along the bomb in red numbers that read only a minute left or so left.

"You like to play games," Ethan said. "I have a game for ya," he said as he pulled out a sharpie pen and started to write on the bar napkin that was left on the table. "I'll give you, fifty million dollars to let Benji go," he said, and held up the napkin with the information written in black lettering. He showed it to Lane through the contact lens.

"Where is the disc?" Benji asked after a moment of silence.

"You're looking at it," Ethan said. "I am the disc. I memorized it, all two point four billion numbered accounts. If that vest goes off, you get nothing. Without this money, you're nothing. Without me, you are nothing."

27 seconds to go…

"Alright, now you're thinking it's only bluff, I'd never let my friends die," Ethan continued when Benji didn't say anything. "I couldn't possibly memorize the entire disc. There's only one way to be sure, let Benji go."

The countdown continued, while Lane thought about Ethan's proposal. Benji winced in his seat as he heard the countdown in his ears, and felt the intense pressure on his shoulders. Ilsa looked at the time on the clock that read nearly seven seconds to go, and Benji's eyes began to water as he held his breath for the ultimate countdown to reach zero.

Finally, the seconds paused, and stopped ticking in Benji's ears. Benji let out a huge breath of relief.

"They come one step closer," Ethan said, noticing that Lane's men had started to venture forward toward the café table. Ethan looked at Ilsa. "Shoot me."

Ilsa scooted her chair next to Ethan and pointed her gun on Ethan's side, as she held his arm within her hands. His men stopped at Lane's orders.

Benji cringed and looked at Ethan. "You remember one day when I told you, you were going to take things too far. This is me speaking by the way, it's not him…"

"The _only_ way this ends," Ethan said. "Is you and me, Lane, face to face, only this time, I won't be locked in a glass box. You want you're money? The Bone Doctor's going to rip it out of me! Now, _let_ Benji go."

Benji was silently freaking out on the inside and glanced worriedly between Lane's men, and Ethan.

"1, 3, 9," Lane said in Benji's earpiece.

Breathing heavily in fear, Benji punched in the three numbers that would unlock him out of the vest. It was now disarmed. He pulled out the earpiece and took out the lens. He took off the coat and unwrapped the vest and everything inside it. He got up from his seat, happily to get out of harm's way.

"Ethan," Benji said slowly as Ethan handed him his cell phone.

"Go," Ethan said. "Brandt and Luther are waiting," he glanced around his surroundings and looked up on the London Bridge Tower before he looked into Benji's eyes.

"What about Carolyn?" Benji asked.

"She's fine. She'll meet you there," Ethan said.

Benji glanced between Ilsa and Ethan and he nodded, and weaved in and out of the café tables.

"What do I do?" Vinter asked Lane through his earpiece.

" _Kill the woman_. _I need Hunt alive,"_ Lane replied.

~*MI*~

Carolyn pulled up her white pea coat sleeve, revealing the face of her watch, and looked down at the number hands as they ticked passed midnight. She couldn't help but smile.

Gina growled at Carolyn's pathetic facial expression. "I guess Ethan was able to rescue Benji after all," Carolyn said, and bravely stepped closer when the fireworks didn't happen.

"Run," Gina said through clenched teeth. "Run Carolyn, run fast, because when I catch you, I _will_ tear you from limb to limb."

Carolyn smiled. "You can try, but it might land you somewhere else."

Gina growled and charged after Carolyn, breaking into a run across the bridge. Carolyn took her moment to run in the other direction, heading down the bridge and ran as fast as her feet could carry her.

~*MI*~

 **A/n: So, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, especially the bit between Gina and Carolyn. I really hope I did okay and hope you guys liked!**


	29. Chapter 28: Meet the IMF

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. MI belongs to its respective owners. I am writing for fun and not for profit. I just own my OC.**

 **Enjoy my lovely readers! Thank you for reading, following, favoriting, and most of all reviewing! I can't believe we're at the end. *tear* I can't believe it's almost over!**

 **Chapter 28: Meet the IMF**

Carolyn ran down the road that winded and twisted underneath a stone arched ceiling that appeared to arch into a bridge, held by stone pillars. Gina sprinted forward and landed on Carolyn's back, which caused Carolyn to fly forward and land hard on her stomach. She braced her hands forward, and gripped onto the cement underneath her to keep face from smacking the pavement. She tried to scoot away, but Gina grabbed her shoulder and twirled her around so fast Carolyn could hardly blink. Gina pulled Carolyn underneath her and straddled her, keeping her arms above her head.

"What are you going to do, skin me to death?" Carolyn asked breathlessly, as she tried to struggle out of Gina's grip.

"Thought crossed my mind," Gina replied. "I was trained by the Bone Doctor after all."

Carolyn gulped, and with Gina's free hand, she took out her knife, showing Carolyn the blade again. Her chest was heaving in fear as she saw it and reacted quickly by kicking her in the stomach with her knee. When Gina was caught off guard, she tried to army crawl out from underneath Gina's legs, but Gina reached for her arm and twisted it back, causing Carolyn to scream in pain.

"You're not going anywhere!" Gina said in a raspy dark voice, as she flipped Carolyn back over. Carolyn let out a short gasp of shock as she felt her back hit the pavement. "You know, I _loved_ it when Brandt kissed me like he saw you desperately for the first time in Morocco. I elicited quite the moan out of him," she chuckled.

"What do you want?" Carolyn asked desperately, trying not to let Gina's taunts bother her.

"I want you _dead_ , Carolyn," Gina said. "Dead and out of my life, to let me live in peace so I don't have to look at your face anymore."

Carolyn gulped, "Is that all?"

"And fifty million dollars," Gina smiled. "I'm certain that even though Benji isn't dead, Solomon will get Ethan and tear him apart until he bleeds. He will get the money, Carolyn, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Carolyn kneed her in the stomach again, this time harder, and threw a punch for good measure across Gina's face. "That's what you think," Carolyn said, and pulled herself up off the ground.

"You can run, but you can't hide," Gina called after her.

Carolyn ran out in and out of the pillars, and looked behind her when she thought she heard gunshots but realized they were coming from the other side of town. Ethan was close. That meant she was somewhere where he told her that she needed to be around this time. She really didn't know how Ethan could handle all this, must be years of practice, because that's certainly not what Carolyn had. But the adrenaline within her soul, and her renewed found love and faith in Brandt had resurfaced, giving her the confidence she had right now to stay alive.

"I'm going to rip your face off!" Gina charged after her with her knife in hand.

Carolyn swallowed in a gulp and sprinted into a run, picking up her feet to head the other direction, down a long road that ended up onto a busy street of traffic lanes. She quickly searched for Ethan and then found him standing close by. She let out a small sigh of relief. "Ethan!" she tried to call for him. "Ethan!"

Ethan looked across the street from her. in the midst of the cars passing back and forth and ran over to Carolyn. He urged her forward with his hand, waving her back. "Come on, come on!" Carolyn suddenly stopped at the sound of a gunshot in the air. She saw Lane beside the red phone booth, gun pointed at Ethan. Her blood ran cold. And she would have screamed if she didn't hear Gina right behind them. She glanced over her shoulder and shivered in fear.

Carolyn was caught in the middle, but she had to get across.

"Carolyn!" Ethan's voice made her turn and spin on her heel to get moving. But just as she spun on her heel, she ducked the minute she blinked at the bullet heading straight towards her. Gina mirrored Carolyn's actions, but instead of ducking, she dodged and clutched her hands onto the brick building beside her, fear glazed suddenly in her eyes.

Ethan glanced between the two and Carolyn decided to take a brave step forward once another car passed by in front of her to run across the street. Gina shot Lane a dark look as Carolyn made her way across the street and grabbed Ethan's hand so she could run as fast as Ethan, away from Lane's bullets. Gina picked up her feet and made her way towards Lane. Her top lip puckered into a snarl. She gripped her knife hilt tighter till the point her knuckles turned red as she watched the two friends run across the street towards an abandoned building, their safe house.

Glass suddenly flew everywhere and around them as they ran inside.

"Are you okay?" Carolyn asked as Ethan held her tight, protecting her from the showers of bullets and glass everywhere. In the middle of chaos, running from two pscyho's and she asks him if he was okay? His lips curled into a small smile at that.

"Yeah," Ethan said nonchalantly. He listened to the sounds of shoes stepping on broken glass and two more shots ran through the dark, firing at them as Ethan looked at the empty square hole that his team had prepared for him. "Go," he said, shoving Carolyn downwards as her body slid on over to the hole in the floor. She crawled on her hands and knees over to the orange cones that outlined the square.

She slid in and fell onto the ground, and rolled over onto her back just in time for Ethan to fall right next to her and land on his hands and knees.

Above ground, Lane and Gina carefully lowered their guns as they stepped closer to the square hole Ethan and Carolyn had jumped in.

He gently gripped onto Gina's leather sleeve jacket, pulling her along behind him as he took a careful look inside. Ethan turned around to face Lane as he jumped inside, and Carolyn rested her hands along his arm as if she was helping him up. She stared at him too, and then looked over at Gina when Gina landed within Lane's arms.

"Face to face," Lane said in a small whisper. "Just as you wished, Ethan."

"You're going to be begging for your death, Carolyn when I'm through with you. No man will _ever_ want to date you," Gina said.

Carolyn tensed beside Ethan when she saw Gina's sadistic smile across her face.

Suddenly a glass door slid closed before Lane and Gina could do anything. Carolyn darted her eyes to see Brandt who kept his hands on the glass, glowering at their enemies. Lane continuously tried to shoot. Carolyn eased into his shoots, bullets pinged against the glass, she became more at ease with the sound that used to frighten her. Ethan watched her step forward a bit, and tilt her head curiously to the side. Gina stabbed the bladed tip of the knife into the glass and tried to claw her way out, but it only made a loud screeching sound. Metal against glass. Ethan gently rubbed Carolyn's back to calm her down. But this time, Carolyn wasn't so freaked out. It was a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach that rose to her heart. Her eyes slanted over at the sound of another glass sliding across the top, that freaked Lane out and started to shoot at Luther. Still, the bullets stuck in the glass. Gina continued to try and stab her way out of the glass, but it was too thick for the blade to pierce through. Carolyn took another step forward at the growing anxiety building up in Gina's bold eyes.

Benji slid the other glass door shut, and smiled at him, while Lane tried to kick it open out of pure madness. Gina turned towards Brant to try and get to his side. After a few tries of leaving dents inside the glass, she tried Benji, and then Lane, but neither glass could break all the way through and create a doorway of an escape to get to the IMF team that surrounded the psychotic couple.

Lane spun around in panic. Gina gave up on trying to break free. She turned to stare at Brandt who only smiled when Gina saw that Carolyn had made her way to stand by his side.

Carolyn's hands were at her sides, watching the couple fit inside the glass box. Brandt threaded his fingers through hers and tightened his warm grip on hers, sending her feels of reassurance rush through her. She couldn't help but smile, and she couldn't help but feel much better. She also felt very proud of herself, especially in front of Gina who tried one last streak of her blade etching into the glass. It barely budged. Gina let out an angry growl within the box and felt her shoulders slump in defeat. Carolyn tightened her fingers within Brandt's and swallowed hard.

"It hurts-" Lane began but Ethan finished for him.

"I know," Ethan said as Ilsa walked up beside him and stared at him right in the face. Lane saw the new scars she had after she'd defeated and killed Vinter.

"Gentlemen, this is Solomon Lane, and Regina Czarr," Ethan said. "Mr. Lane, Miss Czarr? Meet the IMF."

Gina looked at Carolyn agape and Carolyn smiled. She looked over at Ethan and Benji as she heard of what it sounded like gas coming from a gas tank and she panicked. She scooted closer to Lane and curled her hands around him in fear of the gas that started to fill inside after Benji twisted the knob.

The gas curled up and around Gina and Lane as Lane tried to shoot at Ethan and Ilsa, desperate to kill him. Carolyn felt a bit of relief when Gina dropped her knife onto the ground, hearing the ping sound in her ears. She relaxed into Brandt's arms and leaned her head against Brandt's broad shoulder. His arms curled around Carolyn's small frame and pulled her in, kissing the top of her head. Gina's eyes watered at the sight. She tried to claw at Lane, but he shoved her away, and she slid against the glass with her eyes staring widely at Carolyn and Brandt, embraced, in love.

Carolyn's smile had drifted and her face was a little more serious as she watched them choke on nerve gas. She looked down and felt an ill feeling swirl around her, that even though they had done their job and secured the terrorists, she still felt sad that she couldn't help Gina. Brandt gave her a gentle squeeze of reassurance to break her out of her thoughts and she looked at him, nodding to give him the reassurance that she was okay, or at least she was going to be okay…she hoped.

Suddenly Lane popped up in front of Ethan. Lane banged his fist against the glass several times while Gina screamed in horror until they fell unconscious underneath the smoky white filled gas box.

Benji turned on the lights. Brandt pulled Carolyn in close to his chest and she felt his heartbeat against hers, as he planted a kiss against the side of her temple that sent warm shivers down her spine. He disentangled himself from her and he walked around the stairs, heading down below to grab their things.

"Need a little help, Carolyn," Ethan said and Carolyn walked over to Ethan as he attempted to push the box over. "Help me do the honors?"

Carolyn laughed slightly, smiling at Ethan. "Like you need help, but happy to."

Ethan and Carolyn placed their hands on the glass box and counted one, two, three, before they pushed it down into the police van that Benji and Luther had helped set up for them. Benji gave Carolyn a wink for he was already in his yellow police uniform. He started to close the doors. "Gotta say, Ethan, it was a little Titanic-y."

Ethan smiled at her. "Go, get ready, you," he said and looked over at Ilsa who stood beside the black parked car waiting for her to get in. She was free now. Carolyn was free. She was with the people she loved. Everything seemed like it was on the right page. But Carolyn was sad to see Ilsa leave them, and she was forever grateful for her help. She ran over to Ilsa, breezing past Ethan and threw her arms around Ilsa.

"Thank you," Carolyn said. "I couldn't have done this without your help."

"You have a very interesting mind, Carolyn," Ilsa said with a smile, hugging Carolyn back. "It was all you. Don't let anyone tell you differently. Promise?"

Carolyn smiled as they pulled apart. "I promise," she said, smiling. "Thank you."

She turned around and walked over to the police car where Luther was waiting for her to slide in next to Benji and Brandt. He held out a yellow police jacket just for her. She took off her pea coat, while Luther helped her into her police jacket that looked like it could swallow her. "So, I just saved your ass from one hell of a heartache."

"This is the _real_ Carolyn right?" Luther teased back. Carolyn shoved him lightly and playfully as she folded up her coat in her arms. "Yeah, I know, I'll send you a thank you note from Fiji."

Carolyn giggled, and hopped inside the police truck beside Brandt. Benji was driving the police truck.

Ethan walked over to Ilsa and smiled. "You're free now."

Ilsa turned around and smiled thoughtfully at him.

"Where will you go?" he asked her.

"I don't know," Ilsa replied truthfully. "I've done my part."

"Yeah," Ethan said with a small nod of his head.

Carolyn looked up, listening to the sounds of police cars blaring outside and she chewed her bottom lip worriedly. They were cutting it pretty close. She looked at Luther but he was already on it, stepping out the door to get Ethan's attention as he hugged Ilsa.

"Ethan we gotta go," Luther informed.

"You better hurry now," Ilsa said as she hugged him close and he leaned against her.

Carolyn watched from the police truck and smiled. "It's kind of sad," she said.

"How so?" Benji asked.

"Well, with his wife and all," she whispered, tilting her head toward the windshield window, as if she was casually pointing toward Ethan and Ilsa.

"Good luck," Ethan whispered in her ear and she smiled, brushing a loving and tender hand behind his head. She broke apart and gave him a small smile before she turned around to get into her car. She looked behind her. "You know how to find me," she said and drove away from Ethan, leaving him behind with his team.

~*MI*~

 **Washington D.C.**

"Director Hunley," The Chairman said. " _Director_ Hunley," he said again when Hunley didn't answer. It was like Hunley was in deep thought this morning.

"Um, Mr. Chairman," Hunley said, snapping out of his reverie quickly. His arms laid upon his desk as he looked down at his notes.

"Six months ago, you stood before the panel and demanded that the IMF be dissolved," the Chairman said who was part of the Senate committee.

"That is correct, sir," Hunley said.

"How do you explain your testimony today?" Mr. Chairman inquired, voice booming over the microphone.

"It's quite simple really. We had reason to believe that the Syndicate had infiltrated our government at the highest level. In order for our man to infiltrate that organization, his cover had to be absolute. The whole operation was only known to myself and a handful of IMF agents," Hunley explained.

"So the shutting of the IMF was all part of an elaborate scheme to expose the so called Syndicate?" Mr. Chairman sent Hunley a curious look across the room.

"That is correct sir," Hunley said with a nod of his head.

"Which is why you're here today," Mr. Chairman tried to make sense of this. "Asking for the IMF to be reinstated?"

"That is correct, sir," Hunley said with a firm nod of his head.

Mr. Chairman looked between his colleagues as he closed his folder in front of him. "I'm not sure if the committee approves your methods, Director Hunley."

"Uh, desperate times, desperate measures, Mr. Chairman," Hunley replied.

"And you Mr. Brandt, how can you justify this deception?" Mr. Chairman asked.

Brandt turned his head to face Hunley, while Carolyn shifted in her seat beside him, crossing her legs to the side as she smiled at the committee before her. She rested her pea coat along her pencil skirt.

"I can neither confirm nor deny details of any operation without the Secretary's approval," Brandt replied as a matter of fact.

"Miss Mason?" Mr. Chairman asked with a sigh. He had turned to face her for her input on the matter.

Carolyn cleared her throat, and pushed the curls of her hair out from her shoulders to behind her back, showing just a bit of neck bone toward them. She smiled. "They helped dissolve a terrorist superpower called the Syndicate, Mr. Chairman. They saved a lot of lives, including mine. I am forever grateful of their presence and will be for as long as I live."

Mr. Chairman leaned back in his seat, eyes drawn carefully over to the young lady seated beside Mr. William Brandt.

"That is all, Miss Mason, you are dismissed," Mr. Chairman said and Carolyn smiled at him.

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman," she said. She looked over at Hunley and Brandt before she headed down the aisle and out of the room. She closed the door behind her and held her white pea coat within her arms as she stayed close by to see what the Senate Committee was saying but it was all whispers.

She moved away from the door when everyone started to get up to leave. Hunley and Brandt walked out of the room and stood on either side of Carolyn as the three of them walked together in a brisk pace.

"So?" she asked unable to help but wonder what the answer was.

Brandt turned his head to face her and smiled. "Welcome to the IMF…Mr. Secretary, Agent Mason," he looked over at her, and Secretary Hunley.

Carolyn turned to face Brandt and smiled, feeling her cheeks glow with happiness that spread throughout her, and put on her aviator shades while the three of them walked out of city hall, itching to start on a new case to save the world again, this time as Agent Carolyn Mason.

~*MI*~

 **The End**

 **A./n:** So what'd you guys think?! Epilogue? An epilogue that will most likely include Brandt and Carolyn. Does anyone want an epilogue or a mini-sequel after before we get MI:6? I'm definitely going to write an epilogue, for you guys for Quest for a Nation, so keep an eye out for that, and please let me know in a review of what you guys would like to see!


	30. Epilogue

**A/n: So, here's the epilogue from Quest for a Nation, I'm getting ready to start this story up again sometime either tomorrow night or this week! I'm excited guys! Hope you are too!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible. I am writing for fun and not for profit.**

 **Title: Holiday in the Past**

 **Summary: Carolyn and Brandt are on holiday in Paris. Or so they thought. Carolyn and Brandt are kidnapped and taken to Prague, a place where the past was driven to blood. A past that may be unraveling from the grave, as someone wants to re-write Ethan Hunt's history for revenge because Ethan Hunt killed his father, the one who started it all. [Brandt/OFC][Rated T]**

 **Prologue:**

 **Paris, France  
** **Two Months Later**

"Yes, the best way to face your fears is to face them head on, let's go to the Eiffel freaking Tower in the middle of summer!" Carolyn exclaimed hotly as she held onto William Brandt, Chief Analyst of the MI Possible Forces Division, tightly around his torso. They were leaning up against the elevator's sidewall that road slowly upward to the very top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Paris had always been a city that Carolyn had wanted to see. She'd never been. She never spoke the language. She never even knew a Parisian. But she did like the language, she loved the food, and the people seemed very nice. She didn't know what the fuss of it was back at home, considering she'd met some of the nicest people here. Brandt told her it was due to her kind personality. Maybe that was true. Maybe if one showed the same respect to the other, they'd receive it as well. Kind of like a mirrored effect.

"Oh come on, we've faced worse before," Brandt said. "You're just being dramatic."

Carolyn twisted her lips into a small frown. "Maybe."

It was true. They did face worse than a silly tower. Well it wasn't silly. It was one of the tallest towers in the world. And she'd been on top of one of the tallest buildings before, and faced near death experience by jumping into a computer array room, so maybe she was just exaggerating. Maybe she was just fretting because she was on a real holiday. The MI forces had been kind enough to actually give Ethan's team a small relief for saving the world, again. Ethan was off somewhere in the Alps. Jane was probably on a mission still. Benji was cooped up in his office, back playing some sort of computer game, where he liked to be grounded, most of the time. He'd had enough fun, or at least that's what he said when they invited him to the Paris trip. Carolyn had a sneaky suspicion that Benji was just trying to be modest when it came to the two lovebirds as he'd called them. While Brandt had seemed to have clear feelings for her, he never actually declared his love for her, and nor did she ever declare her love for him, but the feelings were there and strong, like a choke hold, chords wrapping around her hearts, unable to breathe whenever she was around him. It didn't matter if it was an impossible mission, or a small thing. When they were in the same room, she could feel it when his blue eyes laid on her soul. Like how she could feel them now as she hugged him for dear life until she relaxed against his soft, yet rigid body underneath her. She let out a small content sigh. It was nice. She was starting to feel a little bit more relaxed, just like he'd pleaded her to, even though she couldn't help but be a little bit anxious when they were granted this time off.

A conspiracy free holiday?

No one taking over the world any time soon?

It just seemed too good to be true. In Carolyn's world, paradise didn't exist, that's why she liked to dream because it was filled with blissful wonders.

Brandt couldn't help but smile a little. She seemed more relaxed now than she had been on this blissful holiday so far. It'd only taken her three days to actually get used to the idea that no one was trying to take over the world. No one was trying to kidnap her for their own personal gain, and no one was trying to kill him, so that was a good thing in his book. A lot of pressure had been released off their shoulders for a short amount of time. They would have to go home tomorrow morning. He wished that Carolyn could've enjoyed the vacation a little bit more, but at least for now, in this moment and time she was relaxed and enjoying herself. He hugged her gently and pulled her closer until they reached to the top of the tower.

The elevator doors opened and they walked out onto the railing that wrapped around the square-shaped top. They were up so high, it nearly stole Carolyn's breath away when she stepped out onto the windy platform. She'd been through worse. This was nothing compared to the Burj Khalifia. "Ugh, maybe I've just never been one for heights in general…including gymnastics."

Brandt let out a small chuckle that she felt rumble in his chest. "Well, you're going to have to get used to it sweetheart. You _are_ an agent now."

"I need to pass my field test though," she frowned. "I'm just a desk agent for now," she reminded him.

"I thought Benji was prepping you?" Brandt asked as they stepped forward to the railing, but Carolyn stopped walking. She didn't want to get so close to the edge of the railing just yet. She could see the hazy skyline just fine from where she stood. Everywhere below her looked so small.

"He is," Carolyn said slowly. "It's just a lot of work. I told you I was perfectly happy knowing that people like you and Jane saving the world was totally okay with me and that I wouldn't tell a soul."

"Eh, it didn't matter. Gina had you pegged, and wanted to kill you. She could've exposed a great deal," Brandt said with a small grumble of disgust.

"Yeah, don't remind me," Carolyn shuttered. She decided to take a brave step forward at that point. "So how do you think Ethan's holding up?" she wanted to change the subject of her field test. Her studies had been very lackluster and she wasn't sure if she was going to pass, even though she and Benji were combing through the rules and the handbook and everything known to the MI forces. She was literally sworn to secrecy now.

"Pretty good," he shrugged, and stepped forward when Carolyn took another step towards the railing. He smiled lightly at her increasing bravery with each step. "I think. I mean I haven't heard. You?"

She shook her head. "Nope. During our training session, he explained to me that he liked the silence of his holidays. I don't blame the guy. He's been on like what…how many missions now? Like five? Six?"

Brandt laughed, "About that, yeah. Guy's a superhero."

"He's my hero," Carolyn grinned.

"Ha, _ha_ ," he tightened Carolyn's body and she giggled.

"Don't be jealous. You're my hero too," she poked him lightly in the stomach.

"I better be," he remarked in her ear. She shivered at his words, and then finally let go of him, and dropped her hands onto the railing, letting the wind hit her cheeks. It felt cold. Even though it was summer, the wind still felt a bit nippy. It was funny with what high altitude could do to you, making you feel so different. Carolyn preferred gravity like no other.

"You are," she clarified, and stretched out her arms, so she could look down at the city of Paris, where all the people walking to and from looked like tiny ants below them. They were so small. "It's so weird being up here. Everything looks so small."

"I always feel like I'm falling," Brandt mused lightly.

"It's your imagination," Carolyn said with a small shrug of her shoulders. "The tower isn't actually moving or swaying. You might feel it, but it's not that. It's pretty cool, the tower. Ooh, there's a gift shop downstairs, can we go? I want to get the history of the Eiffel Tower!"

Brandt let out a small chuckle at her enthusiasm, "Like you need more books. But sure, we can go down. Want to go down now?"

"Getting scared, scaredy-cat?" Carolyn teased, turning back to stare into his blue eyes. He shook his head.

"Pfft, I'm not scared," he shrugged it off like it was nothing, making Carolyn giggle at his light and stiff movements. "You're scared, scaredy-cat."

"Smooth," Carolyn commented with a small nod of her head.

"It sounded better in my head," he winced with a shrug of his shoulders. Carolyn smiled.

"I _am_ getting cold up here, left my jacket at the hotel," she frowned.

"Well, in _that_ case," he shrugged off his gray suited jacket out of his arms and Carolyn stepped inside it, wrapping it around her shoulders. He tugged it tight around her and warmed her right up, rubbing his hands down her arms. She sighed as though she was in heaven and leaned against his chest. Brandt was caught off guard by her sudden actions of relaxing against him, and tried not to stiffen at her touch like he did every time. It took time to ease into her small touches. It took time for him to ease into anything. It didn't come fast for him like some other guys. And he was betting it didn't come fast for her either, but yet here she was so comfortable around him, it always made him question what made her this way. She'd never been one for intimacy, yet with him, it came easy for her. This was the most intimate they'd ever gotten since they've been together. Holding each other, kissing lightly, holding hands, and never in public. But they were hardly in public, save for a few people around them that were paying no mind attention to.

"I love you," Carolyn sighed dreamily.

Brandt blinked. What? Wait…what? Did she just…?

"I know we're not supposed to say it, but I can't hold it in anymore. And no one's listening, watching…we're in one of the most romantic places of the world…"

"Some might say Italian gondolas," Brandt muttered.

"But I don't care," she smiled. "Because I love you. And I don't care if you don't say it back because I know deep down, somewhere in that big shell of yours, that you do. Otherwise you wouldn't be here with me right now…"

" _Awe…oh my God, William Brandt, if you do not say something back, I will kick you in the nuts!"_

Brandt grimaced at Jane's voice inside of his ear. No. No. Why did Carolyn have to say something _now_? Now wasn't a good time to really declare her love from him. Brandt shushed Jane to be quiet, but Carolyn flicked her eyebrows at him. "Hmm?" she asked curiously.

"Heh," he forced a smile across his face.

Carolyn sighed, "Who are you talking to?" she disentangled herself from him and turned around to stare at him with a pointed look on her face. "Benji, Ethan…"

"Jane," Brandt said. "Actually, it's Jane. I asked her to be put on protection detail…" he pinched the bridge between his two fingers to try and ease the forming tension in his head.

"Protection _detail_?" Carolyn asked, crossing her arms over her chest. His jacket nearly flew off from her hadn't it been for Brandt's quick leap forward to catch it. "Brandt! I can't believe you!"

"Um…" he fretted, trying to snatch the jacket from her, but she snatched it back from him and kept it tight around her shoulders, holding the folds of the jacket between her fingers.

"Well? What are you protecting me from?" Carolyn demanded. "You know, I knew something bad was going to happen. I knew it. I felt watched! But you kept saying nothing was going to happen, enjoy yourself for once," she said. "You know last time someone told me that I got kidnapped by a terrorist psychopath who wanted to destroy the world!"

"It was just out of precaution and keep your voice down!" Brandt exclaimed, glancing behind him as the people that were standing around them started to look over in their direction. He was now standing over her, close, looking down into her eyes and she was looking up into his, furious.

"This isn't a test is it?" she demanded coolly, tightening his jacket within her fingers.

"Not that I know of," he said. "But…we got an anonymous tip, and I just want to be safe. Jane just happened to be in the area. That's _all_. I promise."

Carolyn blinked and eyed him curiously, trying to read him but he was damn good at keeping his emotions in check, and she was utterly terrible at it. She sighed when his finger lightly teased the bottom lip where she'd gotten her scar from the Kremlin bombing last year.

She eyed him up and down before she walked away from him, heading toward the elevator. She pressed the button and took the jacket off. He jogged after her and stood by her side. She handed it to him and crossed her arms stubbornly. She didn't like this idea of being watched, especially when they could handle themselves for the most part. She wondered what kind of tip it was. "It's a mission isn't it?" she asked under her breath.

"Maybe," he said, folding his jacket over his arms as he crossed his chest. "That kite you saw fly closer towards us when we were walking towards the Louvre? Anonymous tip became a message from MI forces. Called in a favor, Jane picked up; she dug into the research to see if the message was legit. Did you get anymore info, Jane?" he turned back to his comm that was hidden in his ear.

"Jane?" he asked when he received no answer.

Carolyn stepped into the elevator doors and Brandt quickly followed. A couple of guys walked inside, following them afterwards before the doors could close.

She frowned, not liking the sound of Jane not answering him. An uneasy feeling settled within the pit of her stomach. "Brandt?" she whispered.

One of the men had laughed next to them, and she scrunched her eyebrows together in question. She turned around to face him. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"For what's about to happen…" he responded, suddenly pulling the lever down by the control panel. The elevator jerked to a complete halt and an alarm suddenly went off. Brandt's eyes immediately flared up, and danced around the ceiling, and he tensed beside her. Carolyn did the same and looked around her in all different directions in darkness. The lights flickered on and off in the elevator and all Carolyn could hear were punches and grunts from Brandt's side of the elevator. She gasped when she felt something attack her, and throw her against the wall, but she pulled him closer to her and kneed him in the groin. Then she grabbed onto his shoulders and twisted him and shoved him forward, "Brandt!" she called when she tossed her scrawny opponent over towards him. Brandt kicked him down on an instant. That was about the extent of training of what she'd gotten from Ethan before a holiday had been issued by MI Forces.

She was starting to guess that their holidays were about to get cut short…especially when a blindfold suddenly wrapped around her head and arms were pulled behind her back. Brandt's last breath was heard and a scream in the dark made everything stop.

 **~*MI*~**

 **A/n: Hope you guys liked, and Holiday in the Past is posted now you guys!**


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